Two months after closing the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, owner James Flora is trying again with a new bar that bans Wi-Fi and mines nostalgia for the pre-internet era.
Old Skool Bar, which opens today at 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall, represents Flora’s second attempt at operating a downtown bar, following the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange’s December closure after 15 years. This time, he’s ditching the stock-market pricing model for a simpler concept: no Wi-Fi, retro touches and shareable food meant to encourage conversation.
The bar will pay homage to the 1980s and 1990s with retro features including a record player and CD jukebox…