At the end of 2024, one of Portland’s foundational queer bars, Crush Bar, will close after 23 years in business. Crush Bar is the latest third place to fall during Portland’s 2024 barmageddon, a seemingly nonstop barrage of bar closures as operators struggle with rising costs, falling attendance, a flattening nightlife scene, and other woes related to running a business.
This isn’t the first brush with closure for Crush Bar. At the end of 2023, the bar announced that it would close before it narrowly avoided that fate through an investment from a staff member. Although the staff member was supposed to take over permanently to allow owner
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