WHEN Yes Please Perth co-owner Steve Hennessy first saw the James Street location, he was like “no thanks”.
Unimpressed with the space earmarked for the new late-night bar venture, it took some convincing from fellow owners Josh Hennessy, Seb Terkildsen and Callum Hewson to give it another chance.
“I walked in here and said ‘no’; the way it was kitted out was not fantastic, but Seb told me to just wait on it and think about it,” Mr Hennessy said.
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READ NOWA remodel design, including a few extra walls and new colour scheme, was the clincher.
Now operating for about eight weeks, Yes Please Perth opens until 2am on weekdays and 3am on Fridays and Saturday, with kitchen service until close.
Mr Hennessy said the guys wanted Perth to have a place that stayed open later for local night owls.
He said he had spoken to people that worked for airlines that landed in Perth in the middle of the night and had almost no options for eating out.
“People like that come over and find there’s nothing to do,” he said.
“(Seb and I) both lived in other cities of the world and saw an opportunity in Perth to do some late night stuff.”
He said despite the winter weather, late night numbers were growing and they anticipated a boom during the summer, particularly when Fringe World kicked off.