Bruce Finkelman
Managing Partner |16 on Center
Bruce Finkelman has a mantra he shared with VenuesNow in February 2023 when he and partner Craig Golden opened The Shed in Chicago: “We have this saying, it’s not hospitality, it’s ‘hospitotally’. It’s going the next step.”
Going the extra mile isn’t uncommon for 16 on Center. The homegrown music and hospitality company sells 1 million tickets a year across its portfolio of 18 independent locations, from its first venue, the 400-capacity Empty Bottle that opened in 1992, to the 5,500-capacity Salt Shed, an indoor/outdoor entertainment destination found in Chicago’s iconic Morton Salt industrial complex.
The central mission is to treat every concept as community and every building as a link to living history. Like the Salt Shed, which includes an outdoor festival space The Fairgrounds and the indoor music hall The Shed, 16 on Center is known for reinventing abandoned and historic buildings as thriving entertainment destinations.
The variety of spaces under the 16 on Center umbrella provides artists of all genres and reach the ability to find a suitable stage including Angel Olsen, Interpol, Tyler Childers, Waxahatchee, Thee Sacred Souls, Andrew Bird and others who have progressed from the Empty Bottle to the Salt Shed.
Finkelman attributes the collection of diverse music venues to his love of live performance
“The live experience is an intimate one where there is no substitute,” said Finkelman, a Chicago native who began his hospitality career as a graduate of the University of Missouri’s inaugural Food and Beverage program. “The one-on-one moment that our fans can have with their favorite artist will continue to be in strong demand. There are few things better.”
Craig Golden, 16 on Center partner and president of Blue Star Properties, described Finkelman’s passion for the industry as genuine and dedicated.
“I think his lifelong commitment and his lifelong love of music has translated into presenting music in a way that both he enjoys seeing and respects as well as how he feels customers should experience the music,” Golden said.
Finkelman loves the industry but hasn’t lost sight of the business aspects. He cites one of his greatest accomplishments this year as the Salt Shed being nearly 100% leased.
“In the dreamiest of dreams, we would have never thought that in two short years, we would be able to curate a complex full of amazing businesses that make the Salt Shed the neighborhood community spot we all wanted it to be,” said Finkelman.
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been challenges, including rising expenses, managing customer expectations and pricing. He’s turning to data to better understand what patrons need. Finkelman is a music buff opening venues he would like to go to himself.
“In a nutshell, when you have a fan that presents music, you are going to have a better experience than if It’s somebody who thinks of it as another way to sell drinks,” Golden said. — Wendy Pearl
