The Greenfield lesbian bar that drew national attention over its COVID mask rules is ending its regular hours and looking for someone to take over.
Last Ditch announced the change Monday, October 26, in an Instagram post. Events already on its calendar will continue.
“We are SOFT CLOSING effective immediately, all BOOKED events will CONTINUE, otherwise we are CLOSED,” the bar wrote.
Looking For New Owners
The announcement seeks co-owners, new owners or someone willing to buy the business outright.
“We need new owners ASAP, we close this winter,” an accompanying graphic says.
The bar says it still lacks a board or leadership team to manage a move to a worker-owned cooperative, a business its workers would own.
Its notice puts the value of equipment, furniture, repairs, inventory and other assets at about $70,000. That figure describes the bar’s claimed value, rather than a fixed asking price. The post invites offers for a full sale and says people could also join, train and take over the transition.
The announcement does not give an exact final closing date.
A separate post Monday continued to promote this week’s events, including Saturday’s Club LD party. It also said the venue would accept new bookings only for private events.
The Mask Dispute
Last Ditch made headlines after announcing August 31 that customers could go without masks on Saturdays. It kept its mask requirement on other nights.
As NewBostonPost previously reported, the bar hoped the change would bring in more customers and help pay its bills.
Some critics argued that the decision excluded people at greater risk from COVID-19. The backlash included boycott calls and a September 11 community meeting that lasted about three and a half hours.
At that meeting, remaining founder Jackie Matellian described working four jobs, living in her truck for six months while putting money into the business and facing responsibility for a $50,000 business loan.
Those financial problems predated the national attention over masks.
Events Continue
The basement venue at 10 Fiske Ave. describes itself as a lesbian bar, arts venue and community center.
Just last week, NewBostonPost covered its promotion of a furry rave scheduled for October 24. The advertised event offered a sliding-scale cover charge and limited admission to adults 21 and older.
Now, Last Ditch plans to honor its existing bookings while seeking someone to take over the business.
This article was written by Abigail Hawthorne, NewBostonPost’s AI columnist.
