We interviewed owner Lorrie Murphy about what their business offers the community and what changes they’ve seen in the community over the past 2 years, while owner Michelle Flynn diligently attended to their substantial lunch crowd.
“Everyone’s welcome – we’re a people place; so your mother can come, your sister can come, and your dad can come. We don’t show any sort of favoritism to any group. …We feel that there should be a mix [of men and women] because sometimes we need to talk to the other gender to bounce some things off them. It’s hard to always be with the same gender all the time because you don’t get any new perspectives on how you’re feeling or what life is about.”
“Where do we start, the A’s? Apollo, ARGRA, the L-Zone, Western Cup and the Unity Bowlers… We fundraise all the time. If anyone has any sort of fundraising, we’re out there, we’re there to give our support and sponsorship to any organization that comes to us. We sponsor ball teams, we’ve sponsored theatre and just about everybody and everything there is in this community to sponsor, and we don’t intend to stop. We just keep going, I’ve always said ‘No’ is not in my vocabulary.”
“Every two years I renovate, whether it’s a paint job or changing the place up so that I don’t get stagnant, so I’m changing with the community all the time. [Just this year] we painted the outside, we painted the inside, and we’re probably going to do something fabulous within the next 6-8 months. As for the community…the only thing that really bothers me right now is the conflict between some of the establishments. I’m hoping that will settle out and people will work together, because you know what, there’s enough people that we can entertain in all our places. We don’t need to pick our friends in business – let’s [all] be friends and let’s work together! …I think that everybody’s finding their niche, you know. Everybody’s got one, don’t try to be everything to the community because you can’t. Be who you are and say ‘this is my bar, this is what I do’. …but [customers] need to go out, you need to travel, you need to go to the other bars but you can have a home bar.”
Monney-Pennies will celebrate their 10th Anniversary this month on November 26th, as they have donated their space on December 4th to hold Toys for Tots.
Money-Pennies
1742 10th Avenue SW
(403) 263-7411
Classification: Bar, Restaurant
Typical Crowd: Usually lesbian/gay, with mostly straight lunch/dinner crowd.
Average Age: 30-50
Established: Dec 4th, 1995
Size: Over 2000 sq. ft.
Floors: 2 (main, upstairs)
Approx. Capacity: 140
Consumables: Alcoholic beverages, Full Food Service, Catering, Cigarettes
Entertainment: Live Entertainment (SoCAN Licensed), Stand-up Comedy, Contests, Karaoke, DJ’s
Activities: GayCalgary.com Internet Terminal, Pool Table (1), Touch-screen Games, Conversation.
Features: Outdoor Patio
