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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In the end, even "Bar Rescue" couldn't rescue Tim Owens' Traveler's Tavern in Akron.
The bar, owned by former Judas Priest frontman Tim "Ripper" Owens and Micah Posten, famously underwent a makeover on the Spike TV show late last summer. When he wasn't dropping F-bombs and insulting the owners, host Jon Taffer helped transform the bar by changing its name, sprucing up the place and putting the focus on wings instead of live music.
Less than a year later, the bar/restaurant is closing.
"Our main careers have just gotten way too busy (which is a good thing) and that just makes it too hard on us and the business!" Owens wrote in a Facebook post.
Heis best known as the one-time lead singer of a Judas Priest tribute band who later actually joined Judas Priest. The story was the inspiration for the movie "Rock Star" with Mark Wahlberg.
"Tim is touring more and more and I am needed at my landscape company," Posten wrote. "Both of these are very positive for Tim and I but creates a negative for the bar/restaurant."
Posten added they plan on selling the business to someone "who will be more focused on creating a cool restaurant and possibly keeping the stage rocking a couple times a month."
When Owens and Posten reached out to "Bar Rescue" last year, the place, then called Rippers Rock House, was losing close to $200,000, and the partners were butting heads. When it reopened as Tim Owens' Traveler's Tavern, business appeared to pick up, though reviews were decidedly mixed.
"'Bar Rescue' helped in its own way. I am able to step away and not be bankrupt, this is our choice," Posten said on Facebook.
Tim Owens' Traveler's Tavern, 2727 Manchester Rd. in Akron, will bow out with a big party Friday, September 2. The last day for live music will be Sept. 3.
It's now the fifth business from season four of "Bar Rescue" to close. The show is currently in its fifth season.
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