Editor’s Note, 8:22pm Aug. 22: This story has been updated to include comments from Cheer Up Charlies co-owners Maggie Lea and Tamara Hoover.
Just days before Austin Pride weekend, Cheer Up Charlies co-owners Maggie Lea and Tamara Hoover announced Thursday that the landlords of their 900 Red River bar will lock the pair out of the building if their $58,000 debt is not repaid by the end of the month.
“On Friday is when we kind of got the sense that it was weird,” Lea admits. “By Monday, they were in the space taking photos, saying ‘Hey, we’re going to put this on the market.’”
The couple knew they were behind on two rent payments and accruing late fees to the tune of $1000 per week. Though this summer was particularly hard on business, Cheer Up Charlies had been struggling to keep its head above water in what the owners identified as a “post-post-pandemic” dip in business. When the property management company handed over a 10-day ultimatum, Lea says there was some shock, but the team was well aware of the need for a shift in their business model.
“We have a very pragmatic working relationship with our landlord,” Lea says, a shrug in her voice. “I get it. Landlords, you know, they want to be paid.”
The team behind the popular spot for LGBTQIA events, live music, and DJ performances launched a Ko-Fi fundraiser to crowdfund the money shortly after the announcement. Overnight, the influx of donations caused the site to flag the fundraiser, effectively shutting it down for four hours. In the meantime, Lea and Hoover put together a second fundraiser on GoFundMe, which they have since removed from their Instagram bio in an effort to reduce confusion and keep the funds in one place.
“It’s pretty overwhelming [and] surprising to see everybody being so supportive. I’m feeling super lucky and grateful,” Hoover says.
As of this update, the two fundraisers combine to surpass the club’s $58,229.35 debt by a little over $2,000, once GoFundMe fees are paid. Lea and Hoover say they will post a receipt of their back rent payment when it has been finalized and transfer remaining funds to their designated payroll account, to be saved for staff payments during slow months.
More than the successful crowdfunding campaign to keep the venue’s doors open, this moment of crisis has connected them to supporters and potential partners to help usher the club into a new phase of life.
“We have a 2009 model of running a venue,” Lea says. “That’s just not sustainable in Austin currently. Every single venue owner has multiple partnerships – either hospitality groups, real estate partnerships, [or] other investors. And Cheer Up Charlies has seriously been just Tamara and myself for 16 years – not to talk us down. I think we’ve done really well and the best we can. But nobody’s perfect, and we trip and trip and tumble a little. And we’re just trying to make sure that everyone [is] paid on time and paid a fair wage.”
“After the pandemic, there was a real surge. I gave a percentage [estimate] of 30% increase in activity sales,” says Hoover. The team acted accordingly, raising wages and performance payouts. Then, as the club owners see it, habits changed again and that increased business shrank back down. “We want to show we’re a good employer and we’re a good actor in the community and then when the money kind of stops coming in, [and] your revenue starts to slow down, it’s really difficult to make changes in those protocols,” Hoover says.
Cheer Ups, as it’s affectionately known among locals, cuts a unique silhouette in Austin’s skyline as a hub for drag performances, queer-themed DJ sets, and activism meet-ups. Its endlessly playful Y2K palette and vintage-fair decor is beloved by regulars, including delightfully turquoise bathrooms featured in the Chronicle’s Pride issue earlier this week. It’s come a long way since Hoover originally opened the spot as a vegan food truck on East Sixth in 2009.
“Truly, very, very magically, it became this space to come to after hours. Clubs would empty out and the food truck would become very, very busy at 2am,” Hoover explains. As the truck grew in its reputation, regulars asked to throw their own after-hours events alongside it. From there, Cheer Ups took over the Ms. Bea’s space at 1104 East Sixth, already armed with a stage and South by Southwest connections. Lea joined the operation as a booker for the space – and as Hoover’s romantic partner – helping the club develop its now-signature identity.
“It just basically evolved from there. It was like, okay, this is who we are. This is amazing. We’re taking all of those aspects from the food truck, the art shows, the DJs, the creative culture. We’re finding our tribe, and now we have a building to do all this in,” says Hoover.
Sixth Street wasn’t heaven for long. Cheer Ups battled noise ordinances until landlords booted the club in 2014. It eventually landed on Red River, where it’s become a staple of the cultural district as a venue for local events and festival showcases.
This latest bout of financial trouble, to Lea and Hoover, reveals that it’s time for a change in operations. Notably, if they remain open, the duo plans to open for more operating hours, as other venues – including the newly revamped Brushy Street Commons – are attempting.
“My vision is daytime use, [a] comfortable space. We work so hard on the aesthetics, with the landscaping and the trees, and I think it’s a great little oasis to park yourself,” Hoover says. She envisions the bar becoming a space for work-from-home customers and weekend dance or art classes.
“We want to get back to our values and our vision of the space,” Lea says. “It has been very, very difficult to do that with the financial struggle of getting back on our feet. You know, once you get in debt or have to pay back loans from the pandemic, one bad weekend can make or break it.”
