Strip-clubs owner Hafiz adds Gay 90s to his list

According to its new owner, the Gay 90s will stay gay.

For years, rumors circulated that the Twin Cities nightlife landmark would be sold or even closed. Last month, reports of a sale were confirmed, but the buyer was not identified.

On Friday, Peter Hafiz, owner of the strip clubs Deja Vu and Dreamgirls, said he is buying the Gay 90s and its building at the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 4th Street He'll take over May 1 pending city approval later this month.

As the club comprises 30,000 square feet of prime downtown real estate, it has long been rumored that a new owner might close it and reopen as a different type of nightspot or other business.

"I have no desire to do that whatsoever," Hafiz said. "There is a need for what the 90s [provides]. We want to keep it what it is."

While the Gay 90s has borne its name for more than half a century, it wasn't until the mid-1970s that it became a gay bar and eventually a destination for drag shows and dance nights, which over the years have also attracted a large straight clientele.

A longtime manager at the club, Robert Parker, said he was uncertain about the Gay 90s' future when he first heard about its sale.

"You hear all the rumors and all the talk," Parker said. "But once it all started to fall into place, I saw that [Hafiz's] vision was to have a bigger and grander Gay 90s."

While Hafiz has mainly stuck to adult-entertainment clubs since opening Deja Vu in 1990, he ventured out last year with a hit sports bar called Sneaky Pete's. After hearing that the Gay 90s' longtime owner, Michael Bloom, was ready to retire, Hafiz stepped in, feeling that the club would be a good addition to his cluster of downtown nightspots.

Most of the staff will keep their jobs, Hafiz said, but he wants to upgrade the club's look. "We're going to do an extensive remodeling and bring it up to date as an upscale venue for the gay community," he said. "It's a landmark, but I think it's been a landmark that's been neglected."

Parker agreed, calling the club "an institution and a part of the history of the city."

"It just really needed a big lift," he said.

Tom Horgen • 612-673-7909