The Business Gay Podcast with Host Calan Breckon
The Business Gay
LGBTQ+ Landmarks and Legacy Spaces
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LGBTQ+ Landmarks and Legacy Spaces with Sandy Sachs

In this episode of The Business Gay Podcast, host Calan Breckon speaks with the Owner of The Bourbon Pub & Parade in New Orleans and co-founder of Girl Bar, Sandy Sachs.

Recognized in OUT Magazine’s ‘Out100,’ Sandy has been instrumental in shaping spaces for the lesbian community, beginning with the co-founding of Girl Bar in Los Angeles, the largest lesbian-centric entertainment group in the U.S. and the renowned Girl Bar Dinah Shore Weekend in Las Vegas, a definitive event in lesbian nightlife.

Fun Fact: Her influence also inspired the character Dawn Denbo on Showtime’s “The L Word,” for those who remember the show.

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Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

  • [00:31] Sandy Sachs co-founded Girl Bar in LA, inspired by the need for a lesbian-centric space.
  • [05:34] Creating dedicated spaces like Girl Bar positively impacts the LGBTQ+ community by meeting their needs and providing a safe environment.
  • [10:28] Sandy Sachs continues to nurture the next generation of LGBTQ+ spaces
  • [14:05] Girl Bar’s success led to hosting events in various cities, showcasing its popularity and impact.
  • [17:54] Sandy Sachs’ journey of owning different LGBTQ+ clubs, transitioning from LA to New Orleans, highlights her adaptability in revitalizing LGBTQ+ spaces.
  • [22:16] Sandy emphasizes the importance of maintaining LGBTQ+ spaces that the community feels proud of.
  • [23:24] Importance of maintaining LGBTQ+ landmark spots to preserve community spaces.
  • [30:23] Challenges in maintaining LGBTQ+ spaces as younger generations seek alternative venues.
  • [33:20] Evolution of queer spaces to adapt to changing trends, like offering non-alcoholic options.

Transcripts

[00:00:00] Calan Breckon: Running a small business can be messy, but it doesn’t have to be. QuickBooks is a great way to track all of your expenses in one easy to use place. I’ve been using QuickBooks since 2019, when I launched my first business. My favorite part is the app because I can quickly and easily take a snapshot of my receipts if I’m on the go, and QuickBooks stores it in my account so that I don’t lose track of them. Never lose sight of your business expenses again. From tracking everyday expenses to being ready for tax time, QuickBooks helps you understand where your money goes. Head on over to calanbreckon.com/QuickBooks to grab yourself a special promotion. Or just click the link in the show notes. Now let’s get into today’s episode.

Welcome to the Business Gay podcast, where we talk about all things business, marketing and entrepreneurship. I’m your host, Calan Breckon, and on today’s episode, I have owner of the Bourbon pub and Parade in New Orleans and co-founder of Girl Bar, Sandy Sachs. Recognized as out magazine’s ‘Out 100,’ Sandy has been instrumental in shaping spaces for the lesbian community, beginning with the co-founding of Girl Bar in Los Angeles, the largest lesbian-centric entertainment group in the US, and the renowned Girl Bar Dinah Shore weekend in Las Vegas, a definitive event in lesbian nightlife. Fun fac, her influence also inspired the character of Dawn Denbo on Showtime’s “The L Word,” for those of us who remember the show. I’m excited to talk about the legacy businesses that shape our queer community and looking into the future with Sandy. So, let’s jump in.

Hey, Sandy, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

[00:01:47] Sandy Sachs: Thanks. You know, after a couple of hours of tennis in 100 degree weather. Great.

[00:01:52] Calan Breckon: Oh, yeah.

Where are you joining from today?

[00:01:57] Sandy Sachs: Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

[00:01:59] Calan Breckon: Okay. So, yeah, yeah. It’s real warm down there.

[00:02:04] Sandy Sachs: Yeah. You know, it’s the humidity, you know.

[00:02:06] Calan Breckon: Yeah.

[00:02:06] Sandy Sachs: Dry heat like I used to have in LA.

[00:02:09] Calan Breckon: Yeah. And there was also just the hurricane recently, so we got a lot of.

[00:02:13] Sandy Sachs: That that missed us. But we did. We did get some rain out of that.

[00:02:16] Calan Breckon: Yeah, we got a ton of rain up here. I’m in Toronto, but I was in Montreal and it was just downpouring.

[00:02:22] Sandy Sachs: Wait, from the, from the hurricane down.

[00:02:24] Calan Breckon: South, it’ll come all the way up. Yep, yep. All the way. Yeah, it gets wild. You know, the ones that kind of come up and hit along New York and that. Anyways, let’s jump into all the exciting things that you have going on because there’s a lot going on, and I’m very interested to learn about your history and your past, because you, you know, you’ve trailblazed a lot for the queer community.

[00:02:46] Sandy Sachs: Right. You have, like, 5 hours. No.

[00:02:48] Calan Breckon: Yeah.

[00:02:50] Sandy Sachs: We’re gonna have to do, like, a Reader’s digest version of, yeah, my life in the queer community.

[00:02:57] Calan Breckon: Right. Okay. So I want to start off with what inspired you to co fund girl bar in Los Angeles? And then what were some of the initial challenges you faced in establishing it as the largest lesbian centric entertainment group in the US?

[00:03:13] Sandy Sachs: Well, you know, what was really great about it is that it had a completely organic beginning.

The inspiration was the lesbians in Los Angeles themselves, because myself and my then partner, Robin Ganz, we were running a men’s video bar called Revolver. And that was a great story because I had moved, just moved to Los Angeles from New York to be an actress. Because that’s why you moved to Los Angeles. Right.

And I was looking for a job, and finally I was hired. After many visits and pushing, I was hired as a shift manager for revolver. I don’t know if you know revolver. It’s on. On Santa Monica Boulevard, right in the heart of West Hollywood, right in Boys town.

And apparently the two male current managers were not really happy about the fact that the owners had hired a woman. I mean, even though I was a lesbian and in the gay community. Now you’re talking. This was 1989.

You know, people weren’t mixing quite as much back then.

You know, you had your men’s bars and you had your lesbian bars, and there wasn’t a lot of mixing back in those days.

So shortly thereafter, like, about two weeks after I had been hired, and it was about two weeks before gay pride, they both quit.

They just quit, like, in protest. And I got a phone call from the owner on a Sunday, pretty much telling me, well, you’re the general manager now. And I said, what? And he said, of the bar, and he said, I’ve only worked there two weeks. He said, I’m like, I don’t even know anybody’s name.

And I had to make a quick decision. And the best thing that I did was to tell him, I’ll take it, but I have to hire my own staff. I have to hire my own management, because I also knew that I was a marketer, but I had never run a nightclub.

I knew nothing about the back end of the house, of ordering payroll and all that stuff, but my partner did. She had been running restaurants in New York for years and was a total back of the house. Person. So I hired her. And so the two of us, two lesbians, were running this gay men’s video bar in West Hollywood.

So what happened was that word kind of got out about that, and lesbians started showing up, you know, started coming to the bar, and we kind of saw that, you know, sort of positive. But again, we were like, oh, no, we don’t want them to chase away the guys, you know? And so we said, you know, we need to do. We need to corral them just on one night and let them have their own sort of thing. So revolver had, you know, a big front video bar, and then it had a small little back bar in the back. So we started, you know, like, on. We picked a night, Thursday night, kind of a slower night for us. And we had. There was an emergency exit door back there, so we had the girls come in through the. You know, we put a security guard there, and we had them come in through the emergency door and just hang out in the back bar. And that’s how we started. Girl bar. And it just, like, started growing and growing and growing.

So, you know, that was the inspiration that sort of they forced us into it.

[00:07:07] Calan Breckon: It was kind of by happy accident. You know, it’s really interesting. I’ve kind of. I usually don’t insert myself like this, but I kind of have lived a similar esque vibe. When I was in my younger years, in my early twenties, I was kind of at a club that had just opened, and I was the front door staff, like, just checking people in, and something happened, and they’re like, do you want to be an assistant manager? And I was like, uh, I guess so. And I just kind of jumped at it. And there was one night where the security. Because it was a very hetero. Hetero normative security staff, because it was kind of a mixed bar club. It was. It was straight on certain nights, gay on other nights, but the. The security was all straight, and they roughed up the LGBTQ community, and if you piss us off, we’re not going to come back. And so one night, they all left in protest. They just didn’t show up one night. But I kind of had an inkling it was happening, and I already had a number of people coming. Cause it was a big place. I need, like, 14 staff.

I just. I felt it, and I was like, okay, I have six ready to go. And I was like, if we can do nine. So I asked my lesbians. I was like, girls, if you can pull in a couple more. Cause they had been running security for years. At another place, I was like, if you can pull in a couple more, you all get the job. And they pulled them in, and the security, the old came by, and they looked around like, what’s going on? I was like, oh, yeah, by the way, you guys, none of you have your jobs anymore, so thank you so much. Have a good one. And they thought they were going to be. Oh, it was.

[00:08:35] Sandy Sachs: It was wild thing, you know, I think that these two guys thought that, you know, watch. Watch them fall on their face. They’re going to need us. We’re going to put in the demand, get rid of her, and, you know, and then what ended up happening? I mean, and the club at the time was in chapter eleven. I mean, they were in reorganization, so it’s not like they were doing so great. They were actually doing pretty bad. And Robin and I turned that club around into making, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I don’t think the owners ever expected it, but, you know, got to say, I mean, you’re working with your partner, and we worked seven days a week. I mean, you know, because she was supposed to be daytime, I was supposed to be nighttime, but we weren’t going to separate, so we worked all day and all night, and, you know, until, you know, we got it rolling, and then we were able to hire, you know, somebody to relieve us, you know, like a shift manager, like I was supposed to be. And, you know, there you have it.

[00:09:35] Calan Breckon: Yeah, but, I mean, it just goes to show, when you serve an underserved portion of the population, we’re gonna show up. It always happens. We show up because we’re like, oh, this is a really cool place that’s talking to me specifically. That’s just for us, you know, because.

[00:09:51] Sandy Sachs: Lesbians heard that there were lesbians running it, they felt like they might be, you know, this might be safe. They’re not gonna kick us out.

[00:10:00] Calan Breckon: Yeah.

[00:10:00] Sandy Sachs: And they were right. I mean, we weren’t gonna kick them out. Maybe those two guys before me would have kicked them out, you know what I mean? Because no women were going there at all. But I think, you know, when they heard two lesbians were running, we’re like, maybe we can go there, you know, because there was just one little kind of lesbian bar at the time. You know, somewhat iconic, but it was, you know, say it. But it was a little dumpy. And I think, you know, there were, you know, some of the other lesbians were, you know, looking for something a little more, you know, kind of higher end, I guess.

[00:10:34] Calan Breckon: Yeah. So. So how do you believe that creating, like, a dedicated space like this, like, girl bar has impacted the overall lesbian community, both locally in Los Angeles and nationally?

[00:10:46] Sandy Sachs: Well, you know, I just think that when you create a space, when you give people, when you meet their needs, when you give people what they want and what they’re looking for and, you know, you kind of step in and give what they’re, what they’re running around trying to find, you know, and it’s, you know, and it’s organic because it’s a lot of it’s word of mouth. I mean, we weren’t doing any advertising. I mean, we didn’t even have a name for it at the time, you know, and we just came up with girl bar because they were in a little bar and it was girls. And I said, well, let’s just call it girl bar. And, you know, that really just took off, like step by step by step, you know, until, you know, here we are doing, you know, dine ashore weekend in Palm Springs and getting, you know, 10,000 women coming from all over the country and all over the world, you know, we were, we were partnering with promoters in Germany and Spain and London, and, you know, it was really, it was really amazing. It was, that was a heyday. Yeah, kind of a little out of it now. I have a great lesbian night at my club now in New Orleans, and again, sort of like an organic thing. And I’ve sort of been, you know, they’re like my daughters, you know, and I’m kind of teaching them and, you know, we have meetings and it’s like, you know, this works. This doesn’t work. And they have some really great ideas, and it’s really been fun to sort of nurture, like, the next up and coming group of lesbians and queer. And it’s definitely a little bit different than when I was doing it. So I’m like, good, you’re doing it. Because I think I’m kind of a little out of it these days.

[00:12:27] Calan Breckon: Yeah, I was even for myself, even. I thought my generation, I’m a, I’m a millennial, I’m 37. I even thought we were quite progressive at my age. But then even just behind me, like, just behind me, it was like an explosion happened and I was just like, okay, things have greatly evolved way to.

[00:12:47] Sandy Sachs: Sort of socialize and be out and what you call everybody and how you market and, and the types of entertainment that they’re interested in, you know, I just, uh, it’s like, wow. Yeah, it’s been, you know, it’s been really fun. It’s. It’s a great night. It’s called, uh, we do it once a month on Friday nights. Um, and it’s called her house. H a u s. Nice. Or hoops, I guess.

[00:13:13] Calan Breckon: Yes. Haas. I love it. Uh, so you obviously found great success with girl bar. It was like you just said, palm Springs, I believe it was also like Las Vegas at times. And just like a really good party.

[00:13:25] Sandy Sachs: We did Chicago, we did Phoenix, we did San Diego. I mean, as I think about it, it’s exhausting. I mean, I really don’t even know how we did all that, you know, but, you know, we Vegas, we used to literally drive every Saturday night from our Friday night promotion at, you know, at my club in LA.

We were at that club starting in 1990, and we were there till 2010.

We were there, you know, almost 30 years. And then when I sold the club, the new owners kicked us out. So then we went over to the abbey. You know, my friend David Cooley was the owner of the abbey at the time. I mean, we’d known David, you know, from when. Before he was even in the nightclub restaurant business. He was a banker.

And look what he, you know, look what he accomplished. Amazing. But then he took us in, and we started doing Wednesday nights at the abbey, and it was the busiest, busiest weeknight that he had. It was great.

[00:14:30] Calan Breckon: So tell me more about, you’ve had this hugely successful girl bar, branding, Hardy’s, all over the place. What was the motivation to then move into acquiring the bourbon, the bourbon pub and parade in New Orleans, which you mentioned. And how does it differ from your previous venture?

[00:14:48] Sandy Sachs: Well, you know, I owned the factory and ultra Suede in LA, so that was the big. It’s the old, you know, people who are older would know studio one, you know, which had opened in 1974 and by Scott Forbes. And we actually worked with him. He actually came to revolver because we moved that, you know, we still had that Thursday night, but again, it was like, it was so crammed and, like, lying down the block, and we’re like, okay, we need more space. What are we going to do? So, you know, again, you know, this crazy dance, trying not to alienate the men. We’re like, okay, so how can we? Let’s do a once a month so it doesn’t feel like, you know, we’re, you know, the lesbians are taking over or anything, even though it was far from that. But, you know, we had to be careful. So we took our slowest night, which was Wednesday nights, and we said, let’s do the last Wednesday of the night, we’ll actually take the whole club. We’ll charge a five dollar carroll because that’ll keep the boys out because they’re for sure aren’t going to pay to come in because it was free all the rest of the time. But the girls would pay because, you know, they had now their own space.

So that became very successful. We just did a once a month on a Wednesday and we packed the place. And the then owner of the largest gay men’s club, and, I mean, it was a big club, 15,000 sqft. It went from one block to the other and it’s right, it’s across the street from the abbey. So it was all like, you know, right there.

He came over and said, hey, why don’t you come and do Friday nights at my back club?

Because the club was so big. It was like a two thirds, one third, and there was like double doors that separated them. But you had an entrance on Robertson, you know, excuse me, that, you know, you could like, go into that club because it used to be a theater. And then we kind of turned it into a nightclub on Friday night. So he said, come over. So we started girl bar in 1990. 1990. We started girl bar at the back lot when it was studio one in the back lot.

And we, we worked there until 93.

Then he sold it to three other gay guys who owned a club, CC construction company in Palm Springs. And then through lots of, like, selling myself, I became the general manager because the club, they were running it into the ground. And of course, we had girl bar there, which was very successful. And I go, God, if these guys don’t pull this together, we’re all doomed. So I didn’t really want to have to work that hard, but I lobbied myself to be the general manager because, you know, I knew I could, marketing wise, I knew I could help the business. And sure enough, they ended up hiring me.

And I have Jeffrey Sanker. I don’t know if you know Jeffrey. You know, he was the white party in Palm Springs. I, he was a mentor to me. And he was actually doing boys on the front side of the club. And he lobbied for me to become the general manager. So I did. Those three guys left town. They all went back to where they came from and left me holding, like, you know, another losing bag.

And I had to dig myself, you know, dig the club out of. Out of that. And then eventually I ended up buying it from them in 1999. So, I mean that. So this is all the story about how I ended up getting to the bourbon pub in New Orleans, because then I ended up owning the factory, an ultra suede, which we opened in December of 1999. So that went, you know, pretty successfully. We were bang up, actually, up until 911. Then we took a little dive, obviously, because everybody was freaked out.

And.

But then I, you know, kept it going. We kept Robar going all through till 2010. And then things started. You know, the abbey got a dance permit. So, you know, now they were. There was a lot of competition, and I just kind of was starting to run out of. Out of juice to keep the place going. So my partner, he was a landlord, and I sold it to this other group, straight guys, actually, unfortunately.

And then I got an offer from the owner of the Bourbon pub and parade in New Orleans, because now he knew that I had sold the club and was sort of like a little bit free.

Would you come? I want you to be the owner of the Bourbon pub. Now, the reason for that is that he’s also one of my closest friends.

I met him in the eighties in New Orleans with the original owner, Gary Menefee. So, I mean, there was just that tie. And then in the early nineties, when he had the club and Oz opened up across the street, he enlisted my help to help him get out of trouble, because at the end of the day, he was an accountant.

Not really a club person. But when you’re a one horse town, you don’t really have to do very much. But now when you have competition, now is when it really counts. Now you got to really start coming up with things and competition and, you know, how am I going to get people to my place instead of that place? So he called me and he said, I need your help. You know, I need you to come help me. I’m getting my clock cleaned by the new shiny club across the street. So I consulted for him for, like, three or four years and got all the business back, and he wanted to sell it to me then. And I said, no, you know, I’m not. I’m not ready for that. And then, of course, he just sort of been waiting. It was a timing thing, you know, waiting, waiting. Sooner or later, she’s going to give in. And sure enough, when I sold the factory in West Hollywood, called me up right away and he says, come down, you know, I really want you to buy the pub. And I’m like, man, you know, I really don’t want to do this. You know, I live in Los Angeles. I don’t want to do this back and forth thing. You know, I’m getting old. I was only, like, 50 at the time, which was already old.

And I said, okay, you know. You know, as a friend, I said, I’ll come down, you know? And it was, you know, something out of a. Out of a movie. I met him at his house, and he’d been up all night thinking about what to do and how to get me to say yes. And it was. So he made the. Made me the offer. I was at his house, and he made me the offer on a napkin.

It was like, literally, you know, like, you know, back in the day in clubs, you know, you would write little things on napkins, phone numbers, whatever. Here’s a napkin. You know, everything was a bev nap. Back.

[00:21:52] Calan Breckon: Yeah, back of a napkin, right.

[00:21:54] Sandy Sachs: Yeah, exactly. And literally, he, like, slid it across the table, and I really was not interested. I was like, I just really don’t want to do it. And I opened the napkin, and I think it was. I think it was in December.

And I said, is January too soon?

I was like, it’s o b. I said, he really.

Yeah. He knew how to hook me. So I said yes. You know, it was one of those, like, deals you couldn’t refuse.

[00:22:35] Calan Breckon: Yeah.

[00:22:36] Sandy Sachs: Yep. It was. Couldn’t refuse. So there. There you were. So then I became the owner of the Bourbon pub. My anniversary. My anniversary date is, you know, when we signed the deal, and it closed, and the whole thing was August 17, 2010.

[00:22:53] Calan Breckon: Nice.

[00:22:54] Sandy Sachs: Up on my 14 year anniversary, which, again, wow. How did that happen?

[00:22:58] Calan Breckon: Yeah. Right? And so I want to dig into something that you mentioned before about how, you know, the new shiny horse comes into town, and then what do you do? Because you obviously have a lot of experience and expertise.

[00:23:09] Sandy Sachs: How have you now bringing up dead clubs.

[00:23:12] Calan Breckon: Yeah.

[00:23:12] Sandy Sachs: How would be my lot in life. I never get one that’s, like, already doing well. I always get into, like, something that’s, like, you know, about to die and close.

[00:23:21] Calan Breckon: Right. So how have you adapted the bourbon pub and parade to keep up with these, you know, changing trends? Because you were talking about how, you know, things are very different. How do you keep it fresh now in the LGBTQ nightlife scene?

[00:23:35] Sandy Sachs: Well, I mean, one of the things I do is I really still think it’s important. And I just kind of feel like, you know, because I still. I don’t go out often, but when I do, you know, because I have kids now, so that’s a game changer.

I just feel, you know, I really see what the need is there. I’m going, wow. They just. They’re, you know, they’re kind of missing the mark. I mean, part of why people love it. First of all, I keep it up. I’m like. I walk in, there’s a light bulb that’s out, there’s a paint chip, there’s a this. There’s a seat that has a rip. I go nuts. I mean, it’s like, I just really feel that, you know, our community needs to have a place that, you know, they feel proud of. That’s number one. That, you know, that they’re proud of that space. Wow, what a great looking space this is. So, you know, it’s so nice and so clean. We keep it clean.

You know, it’s inviting, but it’s also my staff. We really, really work hard on customer service because I think at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing. I mean, you can have a great, shiny new club, and if you’re being treated like shit, you’re still not going back. I’m sorry I left. Shit.

[00:24:54] Calan Breckon: Oh, yeah, yeah, don’t worry. We swear. Yeah, yeah, right.

[00:24:57] Sandy Sachs: Okay, good. All right. I wasn’t sure. I was like, no, that’s okay.

[00:25:01] Calan Breckon: Yeah, no, it’s good. I really love it because, you know, it’s important to maintain these kind of landmark spots, because so often we hear of these places closing and that they’re not replaced or they close and it’s put up by condos.

[00:25:16] Sandy Sachs: Right. You know, so many.

[00:25:19] Calan Breckon: Right. So how are you? What are you doing to maintain the status landmark of this destination in New Orleans? Like, what. What do you hope for the future?

[00:25:29] Sandy Sachs: Yeah, we’re bringing in, you know, like, a few different, you know, like, expanding the audience a little bit.

You know, because, you know, one of the things that. That I’ve noticed over the years that has made it much more difficult to maintain being a gay bar. And, you know, quite honestly, sometimes on the weekends, it’s hard to tell. We kind of get everybody because we’re such a fun nightclub. We. I really, really focus on good music and DJ’s. I mean, we are very, very on top of our DJ’s.

[00:26:06] Calan Breckon: Yeah, there’s nothing worse than a bad dj.

[00:26:09] Sandy Sachs: Oh, my God. I mean, it can ruin your whole night.

[00:26:12] Calan Breckon: 100%.

[00:26:13] Sandy Sachs: And it all. And it’s like, if the music just is off and it’s awful, I mean, you’re walking out the door.

[00:26:19] Calan Breckon: Yeah.

[00:26:20] Sandy Sachs: Okay, next. Let’s see what else is out there.

[00:26:22] Calan Breckon: I always told my DJ’s, I had one DJ who he always played mainstage, and people get pissed. And I was like, well, he keeps people in the bar drinking and you don’t. So either learn how to, like, top. Top 40 and remixing that, because that’s what people recognize. And if they recognize, they like it. If they like it, they stay. If they like it, they stay. They get more drinks or you do your experimental stuff down in the bathroom DJ booth.

[00:26:44] Sandy Sachs: It’s what? It’s actually, I have a great story behind that. We were doing. We were. We were back to the factory and boy George was in town and they wanted to do a photo shoot at the club with him. And I said, yeah, sure, love it. So, of course, you know, I made sure I was there and I got to talking to him. And, you know, this is when he began his dj career.

You know, he moved from being, you know, boy George singer to now a boy George DJ.

And.

Yeah, that’s my smoke alarm system checking itself.

[00:27:22] Calan Breckon: Do you got a little. Can’t hear it on this end, so it’s fine.

[00:27:24] Sandy Sachs: Oh, good. Oh, good. Okay, well, it’s all done, the checks over.

And we were chatting and, you know, I was asking him, you know, like, while he was in London, you know, what kind of music, what’s happening over there, just out of curiosity? And he said, well, the biggest night there, you know, and he’s probably playing. It is a night called pop stars. And I went, oh, you know, and this was, you know, this was before, you know, I have to say, in West Hollywood, like, I was a trendsetter. I was doing music. And then everybody, all the other smaller clubs, mickeys and rage and this one and that one, all copying everything that I was doing because, you know, I was always, from a marketing standpoint, always trying to kind of be a little bit ahead, do something different.

And. And I said, oh, I said, pop stars. Because at that point, it was very circuity, you know, and it was, you know, lots of, you know, music. But, yeah, name that tune, good luck, you know, and hum a few bars. Good luck with that, you know, but, you know, it just kept everybody moving. And I said, you know, not everybody is into that kind of music. I said, there’s got to be a faction of gay people, you know, who don’t want to take their shirt off, okay, maybe they don’t have that great body and they don’t want to feel self conscious. And, you know, why would you be the only, you know, the only gay guy at a nightclub where everybody’s got their shirts off, you know, you wouldn’t.

So I incorporated, I said, you know, let’s do Friday nights. Why don’t we do a night where. And I. Let me tell you, I caught hell for this. But it ended up becoming the biggest success in the beginning. Boy, did I get a lot of crap from gay boys because I did a night. I just took the name right from London.

I said, let’s do pop stars.

And if you can’t hum it, we don’t play it. That was our tagline. So it was all pop music. And I said, okay. We were trying to appeal to some of those younger boys. Some of those younger boys weren’t about the shirts off thing. You know, they wanted to come and drink and they weren’t like really into the drug thing. So we did that night and I said, I want pop music, pop music, pop music. You know, I got a couple of dj’s that I knew could do it and sat down. I said, I want to see the playlist every weekend. I want to see the playlist before you go on because I’m also a dj. And I said, I want to see it. I want to make sure you guys are sticking with it. And it’s going to be a shirts on night. You cannot take your shirt off at the club.

Well, yeah, in the beginning it was a little rough. I was getting a lot of flat from the board.

And I go, I’ll tell you what I know. I said that not everybody’s the same. And I said, you know, you guys aren’t coming out on Friday night. Your big night is Saturday night. Okay? I said, so I kind of like appeal to somebody else. And sure enough, let me tell you something. Little by little, we had a line down the block for years. People loved it. It was like more relaxed. People all knew the music. Everyone was singing, you know, that kind of thing. And everybody had their shirt on. Everybody, you know, had a good body or not, but it didn’t matter because everybody had their posts on.

[00:30:59] Calan Breckon: Yeah. Let me tell you, I would be there. I would have been there on a Friday night 100%.

[00:31:04] Sandy Sachs: I’m like, there are those people. Guys, not everybody’s a circuit person, okay? Not everybody goes to the gym every day. And, you know, it’s like, I got to cater to them, too. There’s a whole group out there and it works out great. I got a really cute, you know, and again, I mean, I. I was smart enough to know I’m not going to be the front person. I got a really cute boy, and we are best friends today. This is 30 years later.

And I got a really cute, like, boy who, you know, like, became like a little promoter, and he was a host, and he’d bring people in, and he’d bring other cute boys in, and everybody had their clothes on, and they.

[00:31:42] Calan Breckon: Loved it, and everybody had a good.

[00:31:44] Sandy Sachs: Time, and everybody had a blast because you actually knew the music.

[00:31:49] Calan Breckon: So on that same thread, what do you think the future looks like for the LGBTQ community and our historical spaces moving forward?

[00:32:03] Sandy Sachs: That’s a good question. That’s a good question. I’m not entirely sure because I know for us that, you know, we’re. We’re predominantly gay, but we’re not entirely gay, you know, because we have such good music and we have a great dance floor and we have a great light show and really know how to do it. I mean, because you go to all the other dance clubs, you know, the straight community, and they’re, you know, they’re. They’re okay, but, you know, again, they’re just missing the mark here and there. And people love, you know, first of all, in the French Quarter, you know, we’ve got the best dance base, so we get a lot of straight people. But, you know, what am I going to do? Turn them away? You know, first of all, can’t always tell who’s who.

So, I mean, we try to keep it gay, but because we only market to the gay community, I don’t market to the straight community. They kind of find us by way of. They just happen to fall on Bourbon street, so they walk in.

So, you know, I keep the marketing to the, you know, to the gay community.

You know, we have, you know, male go go dancers. We keep the music, you know, a little more gay centric, whatever that is. But it’s challenging. It’s challenging it, you know, it because especially the younger LGBTQ community is more accepted at other places.

You know, they’re not just going to get quotes.

There aren’t that many, you know, that I know of. There’s not that many left. I mean, there’s a few, but it’s not nearly like when I was going out or tons. Yeah, they’re just shrinking, basically. I mean, there are, you know, if you look at major cities around the US, I mean, you know, there’s like one or two, you know, in subsidies. I mean, even in San Francisco, there’s not too many left in LA.

I mean, the abbey. But let me tell you something. You go to the abbey and pretty much it’s straight.

It’s not really that gay.

[00:34:13] Calan Breckon: I will say the only place I’ve ever been out in LA when I was in LA was the abbey.

[00:34:19] Sandy Sachs: And did you think it was, like, gay?

[00:34:21] Calan Breckon: Yeah, it was definitely. There was a lot of gays, but it was like, it coming from Canada and like, just our, like, how we do life and, like, la is very different worlds. And so when I walked in, I was like, oh, I don’t know if I exactly fit in here, this vibe. But it was fun. I really enjoyed the music.

[00:34:39] Sandy Sachs: Why did you feel like that?

[00:34:41] Calan Breckon: Well, a lot of people. Why did you go to LA, become an actress? Why does everybody live in, like, there’s a lot of very attractive people and it can be very intimidating.

[00:34:53] Sandy Sachs: Yeah, yeah. Really good looking guy. I wouldn’t have worried about that.

[00:34:57] Calan Breckon: Oh, well, thank you. This has been absolutely wonderful. Walking down our history of queer spaces and how important they are and what they mean to our community. I think. I don’t think they’re ever going to totally disappear. I think they will continue to evolve and grow and I hope that people still recognize that even if it’s not drinking, because I know that there is kind of a lean towards not a lot of drinking in the younger generations, but even if it’s not drinking, still maintaining queer spaces and being able to socialize and do that is still very important. So thank you.

[00:35:35] Sandy Sachs: That’s one of the things that I’ve actually started doing is really looking into the NA stuff. I brought in some really great Na beers because I do see that trend, interestingly enough, a lot of energy drinks and there’s actually.

That has now been allowed in New Orleans as CBD drinks.

[00:35:58] Calan Breckon: Oh, yeah, we’ve legalized all cannabis stuff in Canada, so that’s great.

[00:36:02] Sandy Sachs: I mean, I tried it and I went to sleep. I was like, okay, how is this, like, seriously working in a nightclub? I’m like, I don’t want people sleeping. I’m like, I’m trying to get them, like, excited and fun. I totally pass out when I drink that stuff.

[00:36:17] Calan Breckon: It depends on, like, what strain you’re doing and what. What type it is and all that kind of stuff. There’s. There’s ones that are more uppity. There’s ones that are sleepy.

[00:36:25] Sandy Sachs: I’m like, how are they doing that? Um, yeah, but I mean, I’m carrying it, but I’m still. I’m still not sold that. That’s like the wave of the future, right?

[00:36:34] Calan Breckon: Well, we’ll see. Only time will tell, right?

[00:36:36] Sandy Sachs: Right. No, absolutely right.

[00:36:39] Calan Breckon: Well, thank you so much, Sandy, for being on the podcast when I’ve never been to New Orleans, but when I do get that, I know it’s on my list. It’s on my list.

[00:36:47] Sandy Sachs: Go to LA, but you won’t come to New Orleans. You’ll feel much more comfortable in New Orleans.

[00:36:52] Calan Breckon: Right. So when I get there, I will be coming to the bourbon pub and parade and I expect to have the best time of my life.

[00:36:59] Sandy Sachs: Oh, I can. I can guarantee that.

[00:37:03] Calan Breckon: Phenomenal.

[00:37:04] Sandy Sachs: Say that. I’m just really happy to be a yemenite. Part of the bourbon problem. Parade history. As the third owner, I worked under the first owner, the second owner, it was my friend and I helped him, you know, bring it up that we’re going to be celebrating 50 years.

[00:37:23] Calan Breckon: That’s amazing.

[00:37:25] Sandy Sachs: And we’re still cranking, so we’re really looking forward. You know, we’re working on entertainment for that weekend. Taylor Dayne is a friend and she just turned me down. She’s like, bitch, you’re going to need like, a lot of money to get me there. And I’m like, wow, thanks. Okay, so we’re working on some entertainment. So it’s going to be a really great weekend. It’s in November.

[00:37:46] Calan Breckon: Phenomenal. Well, thank you so much for doing that work and for keeping these landmarks alive for all of us.

[00:37:51] Sandy Sachs: Oh, you’re welcome. Thank you. It’s been a pleasure. I just hope I can keep it going.

[00:37:57] Calan Breckon: I hope you enjoyed this episode and learning a little bit more about queer history and the businesses that have grown with us over the years. It’s so important that we look to these legendary spaces and that we actually protect them for future generations. Things might be shifting and changing as we grow, but we still need to make sure that these spaces are protected for all of us, even if it’s just for the historical sake of it. Thanks again for tuning in today. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button. And if you really enjoyed today’s episode, I would love a star rating from you. The business Gay podcast is written, produced and edited by me, Calan Breckon. That’s it for today. Peace, love, rainbows.

Calan Breckon
Calan Breckon

Calan Breckon is an SEO Specialist and host of "The Business Gay" podcast. He has worked with companies such as Cohere and Canada Life and has been a guest on the "Online Marketing Made Easy" podcast with Amy Porterfield as well as featured in publications like Authority Magazine and CourseMethod.

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