Dixie Stampede NO MORE!

[Jason71]

I give the probability that the outlets bought out DS at 90%.

Confirmed in the Sentinel this morning.

 

[beachblanket]

I'll be really intrigued to see if they actually seek and open a new location in Orlando. While the dinner theater market there certainly isn't as saturated there as in some other places (Las Vegas as example), I've been getting the sense the "yee-haaw" nature of the production just never had quite the appeal in Orlando that is did in places like Pigeon Forge, TN and Branson, MO.


And if they actually do re-open, will it be the same? What they just closed had cost them $28 million to build back when they opened it in July 2003. It was their fourth location and at 115,000 square feet the largest in the chain. It also was their only one to serve alcohol and the first to offer knives and forks to patrons.

And what is it being replaced with?

A shopping mall targeted at foreign tourists.

Ah, what once was....

 

[beachblanket]

More memories:

A "living nativity" scene from the last season's Christmas show:

Trick riding was a huge part of the production, providing employment for a large number of professional equestrians.

Dolly Parton preparing for the grand opening of the Orlando facility in June 2003. A woman with an estimated net worth of almost $500 million is part owner of the firm that gave 162 employees no advance notice of their termination last Monday.

 

[swilshire]

A woman with an estimated net worth of almost $500 million is part owner of the firm that gave 162 employees no advance notice of their termination last Monday.

From what I've seen from having two kids work at Dollywood, Dolly has little to no hands-on part in any of the properties. There was an article specifying exactly what ownership she had of the Pigeon Forge Dixie Stampede when they had a problem with an employee who molested a child who was in the show. I don't recall the exact figure, but it was next to nothing.

I'm sure all she does to earn her part of the pie is to make an appearance a few times a year. She was very gracious when my daughter met her the year she posed for Christmas photos with the employees.

Sheila

 

[beachblanket]

From what I've seen from having two kids work at Dollywood, Dolly has little to no hands-on part in any of the properties. There was an article specifying exactly what ownership she had of the Pigeon Forge Dixie Stampede when they had a problem with an employee who molested a child who was in the show. I don't recall the exact figure, but it was next to nothing.

Ms. Parton is repeatedly described in TN state filings as a "majority" sharholder in Dollywood LLC, which in turn is the primary shareholder of Dixie Stampede LLC, the Pigeon Forge, TN-based company that owns and runs the theaters. So to imply her financial stake here is "next to nothing" is a stretch and further diminished by the fact she felt compelled to issue a press release on Monday. Quote:

"We at Dixie Stampede have been blessed, but I am a firm believer in timing and opportunity. This was an opportunity we could not pass up."

Translation: the real estate the show is 'sittin on is worth a gold mine n' more valuable than the what my Wall Street accountant says is the " future modeled cash flow value of the operation." Yeee-Haw!!!!

Fine - I'm a business person and I understand.

But smart money would have approached the closing of the operation differently. Instead of lying to employees (to quote the Orlando Sentinel: "although rumors of a sale had circulated among staff members for the past week, the company adamantly denied as recently as this morning [Monday] that a shutdown was in the works") why not come clean with staff (the place was shut for a week for "refurb" anyway) and let them know what was happening.

But we're not dealing with smart money here. Instead, we have a bunch of backwater ham-headed "managers" leading their employees on and then abruptly locking the doors one morning. And then providing the absolute minimal state mandated severance benefit.

Real impressive, Dolly. What a class act....

 

[disneyfan67]

Ms. Parton is repeatdely described in TN state filings as a "majority" sharholder in Dollywood LLC, which in turn is the primary shareholder of Dixie Stampede LLC, the Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based company that owns and runs the theaters. So to imply her financial stake here is "next to nothing" is a stretch and further diminished by the fact she felt compelled to issue a press release on Monday. Quote:

"We at Dixie Stampede have been blessed, but I am a firm believer in timing and opportunity. This was an opportunity we could not pass up."

Translation: the real estate the show is 'sittin on is worth a gold mine n' more valuable than the what my account says is the " future modeled cash flow value of the operation." Yeee-Haw!!!!

Fine - I'm a business person and I understand.

But smart money would have approached the closing of the operation differently. Instead of lying to employees (to quote the Orlando Sentinel: "although rumors of a sale had circulated among staff members for the past week, the company adamantly denied as recently as this morning [Monday] that a shutdown was in the works") why not come clean with staff (the place was shut for a week for "refurb" anyway) and let them know what was happening.

But we're not dealing with smart money here. Instead, we have a bunch of backwater ham-headed "managers" leading their employees on and then abruptly locking the doors one morning. And then providing the absolute minimal state mandated severance benefit.

Real impressive, Dolly. What a class act....

You and I don't see eye to eye on a few issues, but on this one you dead on. This isn't the way to treat employees and it really puts Dolly Parton in a bad light. Makes me glad I decided to skip going to this show on my last visit.

 

[beachblanket]

You and I don't see eye to eye on a few issues, but on this one you dead on. This isn't the way to treat employees and it really puts Dolly Parton in a bad light. Makes me glad I decided to skip going to this show on my last visit.

Thank you - and by the way, as you're probably aware, Dolly's increasingly limited recording career seems to consist almost solely of doing covers, primarily of 1970s-era rock and pop. Have you heard about the newest one she's about to release?

A version of the Steve Miller's band 1976 hit "Take The Money and Run."

 

[CarolA]

You and I don't see eye to eye on a few issues, but on this one you dead on. This isn't the way to treat employees and it really puts Dolly Parton in a bad light. Makes me glad I decided to skip going to this show on my last visit.

Have any of you ever worked in resturants? Tell the staff you are closing and they IMMEDIATELY leave for another job. So then the posts would have read "Glad they are closing my service SUCKED last time"

Sorry, but generally this is the way the industry works because it has too. If you give notice you better just go ahead and close.

 

[beachblanket]

Have any of you ever worked in resturants? Tell the staff you are closing and they IMMEDIATELY leave for another job. So then the posts would have read "Glad they are closing my service SUCKED last time"

Sorry, but generally this is the way the industry works because it has too. If you give notice you better just go ahead and close.

That may or may not be true for all food service staff (Iv'e read otherwise about some major restaurant closings here, particularly when some of the waitstaff have been with the entity for awhile).

But what about the talent - the riders, singers and actors? They're all meaningless wandering vagarants too, jumping ship at the first mention of trouble?

And giving the bare minimum severance benefit is "standard practice?"

My, good 'ole Southern hospitality at its best.

 

[Jason71]

Have any of you ever worked in resturants? Tell the staff you are closing and they IMMEDIATELY leave for another job. So then the posts would have read "Glad they are closing my service SUCKED last time"

Sorry, but generally this is the way the industry works because it has too. If you give notice you better just go ahead and close.

While that is a valid point, keep in mind, Dixie Stampede had already been closed for a week. The could have told them the final night of the Christmas program.

Speaking of the holiday program, if there's a silver lining here, it's that at least we locals won't have to drive past a giant Christmas tree TWO WEEKS before HALLOWEEN!

But in all seriousness, my sympathies go out to all the employees who caught a tough break.

 

[BroadwayGirl]

I can understand Dixie Stampede management being in a tough position but it is not unheard of for a company to have a staff meeting prior to reopening between a holiday and a regular season. They knew this was in the works - sales like this just don't happen overnight and real estate closing dates are usually known well in advance. Even if they didn't want to let the staff know about the sale and shut down before the closing went through, they could certainly have planned staff meetings for the different departments on the day of the sale and provided a more personal and compassionate notice about this situation. Obviously not everyone might make it to the staff meetings but at least the majority of the staff would have heard that they were losing their jobs from their employer rather than the six-o'clock news. For a company that prides itself on its family atmosphere they really dropped the ball on how they handled it.

And beachblanket - thanks for the pix. I see a lot of friends and familiar faces.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Sorry to dredge up a dead thread, but I just found out about this and am wondering if there are any updates.

 

[Metro West]

Sorry to dredge up a dead thread, but I just found out about this and am wondering if there are any updates.

It's closed and the building/land has been purchased by the company who owns the outlet mall next door. We have heard there's a possibility of Dixie Stampede opening in another location but that's just rumour.

 

[Cool-Beans]

It's closed and the building/land has been purchased by the company who owns the outlet mall next door. We have heard there's a possibility of Dixie Stampede opening in another location but that's just rumour.

Thanks.

I understand why a business wouldn't want to tell it's emplyees that they might be selling. Employees might leave and then the business would have trouble replacing them if it didn't sell or lose business because it didn't have the staff or whatever.

But Dolly Parton could sure as hell take that sort of hit easier than the folks who worked for her could take the hit of being out of a job just like that. I've lost a lot of respect for her and have been a fan since I was a little kid.

I liked the show and am sorry about what happened to the employees.

 

[amygg]

With all her money she could have treated her employees there better. Three dollars and hour and they only get 60 days severance? Thats pocket change for Mrs Parton. And what about the entertainers? You would think she would really empathise with them, since she herself is an entertainer. This is a side of Dolly Parton I think is unfortunate but is now out there for the world to see. And she definitely had something to do with the sale of it since it was worth many millions.

 

[Metro West]

I understand why a business wouldn't want to tell it's emplyees that they might be selling. Employees might leave and then the business would have trouble replacing them if it didn't sell or lose business because it didn't have the staff or whatever.

But Dolly Parton could sure as hell take that sort of hit easier than the folks who worked for her could take the hit of being out of a job just like that. I've lost a lot of respect for her and have been a fan since I was a little kid.

I liked the show and am sorry about what happened to the employees.

Yeah...that left a bad taste in a lot of mouths down here and not just employees.

With all her money she could have treated her employees there better. Three dollars and hour and they only get 60 days severance? Thats pocket change for Mrs Parton. And what about the entertainers? You would think she would really empathise with them, since she herself is an entertainer. This is a side of Dolly Parton I think is unfortunate but is now out there for the world to see. And she definitely had something to do with the sale of it since it was worth many millions.

I know and I'm sure she's not losing any sleep over the former employees lives. Typical big business anymore. Don't even get me started on Sears!

 

[disneyfan67]

With all her money she could have treated her employees there better. Three dollars and hour and they only get 60 days severance? Thats pocket change for Mrs Parton. And what about the entertainers? You would think she would really empathise with them, since she herself is an entertainer. This is a side of Dolly Parton I think is unfortunate but is now out there for the world to see. And she definitely had something to do with the sale of it since it was worth many millions.

Yeah...that left a bad taste in a lot of mouths down here and not just employees.

I know and I'm sure she's not losing any sleep over the former employees lives. Typical big business anymore. Don't even get me started on Sears!

We as Americans have to start treating other fellow Americans a lot better, IMO. What Dolly Parton did was inexcusable because not only has she became a mega millionaire off the general public by entertaining them, she was dirt poor growing up. This according to her in interviews she has given over the years. She more than anyone should know how hard it is to a be a struggling entertainer trying to make it in that field, much like the ones she abruptly laid off with no warning.

For her to have a hand in this and not step up and try to make things right for the employees that worked for her, shows she's nothing more than phony. I'll be sure to remember this when I see her smiling, surgically altered face on my TV.

 

[beachblanket]

Yep, while Dolly Parton can't "afford" to offer a decent serverance program (what she gave the workers in Olrando was the the state-mandated minimum), she can afford to (quote) "spend a LOT of her own money" to produce and release her latest album:

http://www.miamiherald.com/776/story/468079.html

"I'm looking at it like an investment," she told The Associated Press. "I thought, 'I've made enough money. I can afford to invest a little in myself.'"

Yes, Dolly, I'm sure you can. And I bet you ex-staff in Orlando will be the first in line to buy this wonderful new CD