We weren’t really surprised to hear that Winchester Tavern owner James Mileti has decided to put his club up for sale. We’d heard rumors that he wanted to sell the Lakewood club that caters to the classic rock and blues crowd. And the club was only booking live bands a couple of nights a week. Earlier today, Mileti sent an email out to his newsletter subscribers telling them that he intended to sell the club (for a whopping $349,000) and that interested parties should simply give him a ring. “The importance of walking uprightly in the eyes of the Lord outweighs any and all other factors, and our selling booze to people is not making God smile,” he wrote on the club’s web site. “If we were the cause of a brother stumbling, woe to us. The path for [my wife] Rebecca and my life should be to uplift our brother not to make him stumble. This is of the utmost importance. We want to dedicate our lives to making more eternal residents in the kingdom of God, not to putting stumbling blocks in their path.” The couple had a reputation of being artist friendly club owners; the West side club will certainly be missed.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2014.
I think the lord might want you drop the price a little
I wish Jim and Rebecca all the luck on their journey. You don’t have to believe as they do…just respect them for following their hearts. We’ll miss you and The Winchester.
Can’t think of anything more worthy of the lord than the spread of JOY, and music brings ALOT of that. BUT yes, Jim and Rebecca have to follow their hearts and they’ve added a great club to peoples lives for a number of years, so thanks for that guys!
It is astounding how Miletis decided to operate in their own personal absolutes. It is disappointing another Cleveland music landmark may vanish. It is absolutely beyond belief they could not have already found a partner in the last 5 years and disengaged in the manner befitting serious business people.
I give them a lot of credit for following their beliefs, but I completely disagree. It’s better to have a place that sells alcohol responsibly and helps people get home safely than to have a place that doesn’t care and lets anyone drink as much as they want. Even good things, used in the wrong manner, can become bad things. Your religious book, when read from, is a good thing. When you use that religious book to knock people unconscious so you can steal their wallets, though, then it becomes bad. It doesn’t mean that you should stop selling religious books though.
What are all you talking about? They sound like typical Christian wacko, nut jobs. Next they will be bombing abortion clinics.