Last call at the Cat

After months of financial woes, The Chrome Cat, a lesbian-oriented hot spot, closed its doors Saturday, an emotional night for not only its loyal patrons, but its dedicated staff as well.

The final evening featured a performance by The House Divas, which packed the venue to capacity one last time.

Owners Lisa Whitehead and Michelle Taylor opened The Chrome Cat on Jan. 9, 2009, and it quickly developed a following. However, the weight of back taxes forced the bar out of business, according to Melissa “Inky” Kim, Chrome Cat’s general manager.  

“The first year of business (the owners) had really big plans that weren’t met by community revenue,” Kim said. “I pretty much was asked to take over as general manager last July as a last resort because we almost closed our doors for good then. We had the ‘Save the Kitty Benefit’ to make up the $13,000 we owed (in back rent) to our landlord — and we did pay that off. But what we owe now is about $52,000 in payroll taxes, revenue taxes and business taxes.” 

For the back taxes, the state and federal government placed a lien on the club’s liquor license, ceasing all sales of liquor at the establishment, which ultimately forced the Chrome Cat to close. Kim said the liquor license itself is worth $75,000, though all taxes must be paid-in-full before the owners can sell the license. This is the same type of predicament Rendezvous on the Grand (the previous bar in that location) experienced in late 2008.  

Money issues aside, Kim is distraught over the closing. Fighting back tears, she said the worst part is losing the family vibe the job offered and the sanctuary it provided for some of Lansing’s lesbian community.

“It was a definite community safe space for a lot of people, and I think that’s going to be a big hole in our community,” Kim said. “But I think the saddest thing is that 90 percent of my staff has been here since day one. Two years and four months gave us a lot of time to grow together and become a family. I’m grateful for that and I think that’ll continue to grow.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with my staff in the future but there’s definitely a lot of talent here, so I do hope something good comes for them.”

As for the future of the business and its owners, Whitehead said she is open to relocating if a serious offer arises.

“I’ve had a number of people who say they have money and are interested in taking my liquor license, and relocating The Chrome Cat to another place," Whitehead said.

"I am more than willing to do that. If somebody wants to come out of the woodwork, I’d work with them on that. As soon as I can pay off the taxes, the liquor license can be transferred or purchased. I would try it again, but I can’t do it on my own.”

Kim said she feels there were mistakes made early on, like opening the bar too early in the day, being open too many days of the week and offering too many menu choices. 

“The original vision was to have a daytime restaurant atmosphere and then a nightclub at night, but as many people in this town know, you either have to have one or the other: There’s not enough to support both,” Kim said. “The day-to-day revenue just wasn’t enough to sustain us and our past mistakes. It was just the everyday business we needed — we had our hands in too many cookie jars for too long. When I took over in July of 2010 we cut it back, shortened the menu, made a lot of different changes. But it was kind of too little, too late.” 

Kim said the government offered help. 

“The state of Michigan was going to work with us and do a payment plan as long as we signed a contract with them,” she explained.

“Which is all good and well, but once we came in and looked at our numbers we couldn’t in good faith sign a contract saying, ‘We’re going to pay you this money’ when we didn’t know if we could. If we defaulted on a payment like that the state would come in, inventory everything, and we’d walk away with nothing. Doing it this way, we liquidate our inventory and can at least try to make some money to pay towards the lien.”  

Even in its short existence, Whitehead said she feels The Chrome Cat made a positive impact on the gay community.

“It wasn’t just a bar,” Whitehead said. “There was a lot of bonding and relationships happening. We even hosted weddings, birthdays, AIDS awareness events, plays, concerts, benefits for gay-friendly charities — it felt like home. I will miss that. It’s very sad for me.”