Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Kenney.
Hi Dawn, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Players Locker Room, previously known as Players Grille, started back in 1999 as a traditional neighborhood restaurant/sports bar. For nearly 25 years, this space was a reliable, staple for watching sports, great meal and ice cold beer in the Miramar and San Marco areas.
Our current chapter truly began in June 2024 when my business partner and I took over the landmark venue. We knew the location had incredible history, but we wanted to completely revitalize the energy. We rebranded as Players Locker Room, upgraded the space with with new kitchen and bar equipment, new flooring and an arcade, while we completely overhauled the menu, with a focus on improving the quality of the food.
However, we knew that a great sports bar isn’t built on arcades and burgers alone—it is built on community.
Today, we have grown into a true multi-faceted community hub by giving local sports fans and families a place to genuinely belong. We have deliberately built deep partnerships to make our space the ultimate game-day headquarters:
* The Local Fanbase: We are a fierce home base for the Jacksonville Jaguars, creating an electric stadium-like atmosphere right in the neighborhood.
* Official Away-Game Hub: We partnered with the arena football team, the Jacksonville Sharks, to become their official home-away-from-home watch party destination.
* “The Nest” Chapter: We became the official home for the local chapter of the Seattle Seahawks fan club, drawing in dedicated out-of-market fans every single week.
* The Weekend Brunch Crowd: We expanded our community reach into the mornings by launching a fully scratch-made weekend breakfast and brunch menu on Saturdays and Sundays. This has turned us into a multi-generational gathering spot where local families, running groups, and early-morning sports fans come together to kick off their weekends.
* Beyond the Game: We extended that community focus into weekdays by hosting local artists for open mic nights, trivia, music bingo, and live music showcases on weekends.
We are finding some success today by treating our patrons like teammates, ensuring there is always a welcoming, high-energy event bringing people together. We have many patrons that we call “regulars” as they are in daily or at least several days a week. We realize that all customers are important, but we have built relationships with our “regulars” and at our last two anniversary parties, we honored many of them with their name on a bar stool or booth.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but every challenge has really pushed us to grow. The restaurant industry is inherently unpredictable, and for us, the biggest hurdles have centered around revitalizing a really old, nostalgic space and navigating changing market costs.
Operating out of a beloved, decades-old building means we have invested a lot of love, time, and resources into upgrades and repairs. It is a balancing act, but seeing the space transform into a fresh, comfortable environment for our guests makes the hard work entirely worth it.
Managing cash flow and volatile food costs has been another great learning experience. You never know when the price of a core ingredient will suddenly skyrocket. Since we refuse to constantly print new menus or pass those sudden spikes onto our guests, we have learned to be incredibly nimble behind the scenes—tightening our kitchen operations and finding creative efficiencies to absorb those costs.
We have poured our hearts and souls into turning Players Locker Room into a welcoming neighborhood hang out!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have been an entrepreneur and business owner for most of my adult life, and working across entirely different industries has taught me everything I know about business, resilience, and people.
In the past, my primary focus was on the fast-paced challenge of building, scaling, and flipping businesses. I plunged into drastically different sectors—ranging from property restoration and commercial kitchen cleaning to fashion jewelry design and global procurement. Stepping into completely unrelated industries forced me to become an expert at breaking down complex operations, identifying inefficiencies, and executing rapid growth strategies.
But more than just growing a bottom line, my journey taught me that every successful business ultimately comes down to understanding and helping people. I absolutely love the challenge of taking a business to the next level, and I have channeled that lifetime of diverse experience directly into Players Locker Room. Instead of building something just to sell it, I am applying those exact same scaling, operations, and problem-solving skills to build a permanent, deeply-rooted home for our local community.
What’s next?
Looking ahead, my main focus is all about deepening our roots right here in our neighborhood. Instead of chasing massive, over-the-top events, our future is about perfecting the day-to-day community reach and becoming a truly indispensable part of Miramar and San Marco.
We want to take the incredible momentum we have with the Jaguars, Sharks, and Seahawks fan clubs and solidify those relationships so those fans know PLR is permanently their home. I am looking forward to finding new ways to get involved locally—whether that means hosting spirit nights for nearby schools, or partnering with local charities for neighborhood give-back days.
Inside our doors, we want to keep refining what we do best. That means continuing to elevate our menu and expand our weekend brunch to make it the definitive morning gathering spot for local families and running groups, and ensuring our weeknight trivia and live music nights remain a reliable, welcoming outlet for our regulars. For me, the ultimate goal for the future isn’t about expanding outward; it’s about locking in our reputation as the warm, community-driven neighborhood hub where everyone feels like a regular the moment they walk in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.playerslockerroom.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playerslockerroom2025/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playerslockerroom
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-kenney/
