Just weeks after Cheer Up Charlies garnered headlines for nearly closing its doors forever due to unpaid rent, news broke today that the iconic Austin hangout will be acquired by a Florida company called Pride Holdings. The firm owns a portfolio of LGBTQ+ establishments, including nightclubs in Fort Lauderdale and Key West, as well as The Stonewall Hotel in Sydney, Australia (which pays homage to but is not connected with the iconic Stonewall Inn in New York City).
“This high-impact acquisition marks a significant step in the company’s national expansion strategy and underscores its commitment to building the leading network of LGBTQ+ entertainment destinations in the United States,” said a press release on Pride Holding’s website.
The press release went on to say that owners and founders Tamara Hoover and Maggie Lea will continue to serve in leadership positions to preserve the bar’s authenticity and identity.
“We are beyond excited to join the Pride Holdings family, and enter into this new chapter of our existence,” Maggie Lea said in a written statement via the press release. “Being a part of Pride will help us find the long-term stability and provide the financial backing we’ve always dreamed of.”
That stability moving forward will be key for a bar that has had a rocky tenure through enduring a move from East Austin to Red River Street downtown, a global pandemic and ensuing shutdown, and rapidly rising rents in one of the country’s most ascendent markets. More than once in recent years, Cheer Up Charlies has found itself on the brink of closure and relied on die-hard patrons and fans to rally in support. After a plea to the community for help just this August, club owners raised more than $60,000, which they used to pay off back rent and late fees, according to a post on the bar’s Instagram account.
In addition to helping them clear the outstanding debt, Lea and Hoover found another benefit to the public fundraiser, as Pride Holdings reached out to them after seeing the news. “They called us on August 31,” Lea says. “It was kind of a stroke of fate, and we feel so lucky that they found us.”
The exact details of the acquisition, including a purchase price or compensation for Hoover and Lea, weren’t made available, but the owners say they were primarily offered shares in Pride Holdings in the deal.
Pride Holdings is a publicly traded company that sells stock on the over-the-counter exchange, also known as the penny stock exchange. The group’s CEO, Michael Barrett, was appointed in July to target a stretegic growth push and has previously owned multiple bars and fast-food restaurant chains. Barrett also sits on a five-person board of directors that includes Don Granatstein, former owner of bygone gay resort, the Parliament House Hotel in Florida.
While many community members donated to Cheer Up Charlies recent fundraiser and have expressed their adoration for the longtime LGBTQ-friendly bar and music venue, others in Austin have been critical, clamoring for new ownership and a change in management. Lea says some of the community concerns had merit, but adds that many of the accusations were unfounded. According to her, the limitations of a small business run by two people meant that the bar didn’t always have robust systems in place. As she sees it, Pride Holdings will bring a more streamlined series of processes to payments for employees and performing artists. “We have a parent company to help us stabilize,” Lea says.
Language in the company’s press release also alludes to growing the Cheer Up Charlies brand in other markets in Texas over the next two years, but details about what that might look like weren’t made available.
While the exact path forward for Cheer Up Charlies as a brand may not be entirely clear, the news marks a definite shift for the club and brings new investors to a homegrown bar that has been a staple in Austin’s nightlife scene for nearly two decades.
Great Job Bryan C. Parker & the Team @ Austin Monthly Magazine Source link for sharing this story.
