The sale of Cheer Up Charlies to a Florida investment firm was canceled Tuesday.
In the latest twist of what has been a chaotic year for the beloved Austin queer bar, Cheer Up Charlies will no longer be acquired by Pride Holdings Group. Bar owner Maggie Lea told KUT News that the parties have “amicably agreed to part ways.”
“Both parties have rescinded, and Pride Holdings is no longer involved in Cheer Up Charlies,” Lea said. “Our membership interests have been returned and we (Tamara Hoover & Maggie Lea) remain owners of Cheer Up Charlies.”
"I have nothing bad to say about them," she added. "It just didn't work out, you know?"
Pride Holdings Group did not return multiple calls, texts and emails for comment. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the corporation appeared to have removed a press release about the acquisition from its website.
The announcement last month that the bar known as Cheer Ups was being sold to an out-of-state corporate entity shocked the local queer community. Coming just days after the bar raised about $60,000 in donations to pay back rent, the news rankled some who said corporate ownership was out of step with the bar’s identity as a safe space for queer Austinites.
The scuttled deal would have involved Lea and Hoover staying on as managers, with Pride Holdings Group taking over the business’ ailing finances. The company has acquired multiple struggling LGBTQ+ bars in the U.S. and Australia in the last few months.
It’s unclear what exactly led to the deal being called off. In an interview last week, Pride Holdings Group’s CEO Michael Barrett said the agreement had been finalized, but he couldn’t disclose specific terms.
He told KUT News he planned to help “figure out how to cut costs and make them make themselves profitable,” but added Pride Holdings would have the power to trim budgets, rethink operations and hire and fire management if necessary.
"It's not about reinventing the wheel, as we take over some of these projects," Barrett said. "It's about putting a little oil on the wheel to make sure it turns right."
A former fast food restaurant franchisee, Barrett said he’d retired in Key West when he found a hobby: acquiring struggling queer clubs. Since July, Pride Holdings Group had announced the acquisition of LGBTQ+ establishments in Chicago and Savannah, Georgia, as well as Australia and Bali. In July, they announced the purchase of a castle in Italy they intended to turn into an LGBTQ+ resort.
Barrett pitched the acquisition — and the company’s stock — as an investment opportunity for queer patrons.
"It's an opportunity for other LGBTQ+ individuals to own part of their own environment," he said. "It's not about me and it's not about anybody else. It's about what the company can do with the power of our organization."
But scores of Austinites came out on social media against the decision to sell.
For Brigitte Bandit, a longtime drag performer who worked almost exclusively at Cheer Ups, the prospect of corporate ownership ran counter to her view of community.
"I just don't think queer liberation is going to be found in capitalism," she told KUT News. "Queer spaces don't need to be like Taco Bell.”
Bandit has also been vocal about her lack of faith in Lea and Hoover’s leadership. She had decided not to continue performing at Cheer Ups if the corporate sale went through. Now, she is not sure.
“I hope things can change to make me feel comfortable to be there again,” she said, adding she hopes Cheer Ups can find “financial stability and thoughtful leadership” as a locally owned business.
Lea declined to comment on Bandit’s remarks.
