Over the last fortnight the three men behind Perth’s newest gay venue, sKandalous in East Perth have been questioning the businesses future.
After having been open for just over 5 months, Michael, Mark and Tony have closed the doors for renovations and will be re-opening next week as a bar cocktail lounge.
‘As you know, we sent out an email and reached out to the queer community to support us, we set ourselves a target and sadly we didn’t meet that target last weekend,â? stated Michael to OUTinPerth.
Having been a venue that caters exclusively to the gay and lesbian market since they opened the trio have regretfully had to make the decision to market the venue to the straight community as well, and have removed their men’s and women’s nights, Thrust and Lick.
‘We are disheartened certainly,â? added Tony.
‘When we opened we reached out to the gay community and all the community groups offering to have their functions and advertise their events on our plasma screens but the response was disappointing with only about 2% of groups taking us up on our offer.â?Â
Pride WA held Wine and Cheese night fundraisers at the venue and had a great turn out the first night with over 150 people in attendance but by the third week of the event the numbers had dwindled to 20 people.
‘When it comes down to it we are a business and we need to be profitable,â? admitted Mark.
‘We have been forced to open the doors to the wider community simply because we don’t have any money in the bank.â?Â
Since before they opened, Michael 28, Mark 35 and Tony 35 have constantly welcomed input from the community as to what their customers are looking for, the change to the bar cocktail lounge is one such suggestion.
‘We have been competing against The Court and Connections and now realise we need to go wider,â? said Michael.
‘We pretty much don’t want to compete and thought more that we would be catering to the after work crowd, but it hasn’t worked out like that,â? added Tony.
All three have had a long experience in running businesses with Tony having managed Kuleto’s in Newtown Sydney for many years.
‘We wanted to create a comfortable venue that the gay and lesbian community would support, and I think we have, but sadly with we just need to reassess our future and direction.â?Â
