London's iconic lesbian bar, the Candy Bar in Soho, is due to close its doors for the final time in January 2014. Opened in the late nineties by lesbian entrepreneur Kim Lucas, the venue changed hands many times before being purchased in 2011 by Gay Businessman Gary Henshaw of Ku Bar.
"Running the Candy Bar for the last two years has been an amazing experience. But a 50% increase in rent and the current economic climate forced my hand. Candy has been sold to an outside investor and will cease to operate as a lesbian bar in January 2014. The next three months will be about celebrating and commemorating the unique legacy Candy Bar has played over its seventeen years on London's gay landscape. Meanwhle I am working hard at bringing an alternative girls space to the heart of Soho."
Gary Henshaw, Proprietor Ku Group
With the closing of Candy, so goes Soho's exclusively lesbian bar. The seriousness of this move and how it may affect the dynamics of Soho's gay village community has not been lost on Gary, whose Ku Bar venues both in Leicester Sq.and Soho have always welcomed and valued their lesbian clientele alongside their gay male customers. 'Ruby Tuesdays', a lesbian night at Ku Bar Lisle Street, has run successfully in KuKlub for many years now.
As a result in January 2014 as Candy closes, Ku Bar is to radically overhaul its services to offer the gay girls of London a brand new, exciting and stylish space to call their own in the middle of Old Compton Street itself. Ku Bar Frith Street will be totally refurbished and effectively split into two units, with the entire lower ground floor becoming 'Ku Bar Girls', the hottest new girls' bar in town, ran and managed by girls, for girls and their guests. Open daily from 4pm, the newly redesigned venue will be a modern spacious bar with a relaxed early evening vibe. It will have its own entrance staffed by female security on Old Compton Street, giving the lesbian community of the capital a real, visible presence on London's most famous gay street. As well as a unique bar in itself, it will continue the signature Ku tradition of creating a real gay nightlife community in which gay girls can relax, flirt, laugh and enjoy themselves in suitable style. DJs, live music, comedy and special events will all feature in the programme line-up, to be drawn up by lesbian management and promoters.
Ku Bar Girls is due to launch the week after Candy closes, but until then the focus will be on celebrating all that Candy Bar has achieved. Since it's inception in 1996, Candy Bar has been the home of countless memories for many members of the lesbian community and famously featured on the Channel 5 TV show, 'Candy Bar Girls'. Ku Bar would like to raise a glass to Candy's special legacy, rather than let it fade out. So please, join us in the party as we see Candy's last Halloween, the last Christmas and its last ever New Year's Eve, with official closing parties taking place in January. Let's see Candy off on a high and make its last three months some of its very best…
"I would like to take this opportunity to wish Claire and her fantastic team all the very best in the future and to sincerely thank the thousands of customers who have supported and enjoyed Candy Bar over the years. This is an end of an era for the lesbian community in London, but it is by no means the end of the story."
Gary Henshaw, Proprietor Ku Group
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