The Akaroa restaurant has been called Bully Hayes for 25 years. But it came under fire in June for glorifying Bully Hayes, a 19th-century United States ship captain who has been accused of human trafficking, and abducting and raping young women and children in the Pacific.
Owner Wayne Jones said yesterday the renaming will still happen but only when the business is in a financial position to do this.
Since the controversy, the name has been changing temporarily on a weekly basis, but a permanent name change has been settled on. Currently it is being called Bully Stays.
Jones originally planned to change the name this month but rebranding will cost between $20,000 and $30,000.
He said his main priories at the moment are keeping staff employed and the restaurant surviving the summer.
Jones did not give specifics on the financial hit the business has taken but said "it is a very much down-time".
Said Jones: “Everybody’s got that risk [of closing] at the moment. The unknown is what we’re heading into in November. Our focus is on keeping my staff employed and paying their wages.”
He would know by March if the business has been able to recover from Covid.
The restaurant has recently changed to its summer menu which Jones said cost about $3000. The original plan was to do the naming rebrand at the same time.
