The ’80s music goes silent as one of downtown Raleigh’s most popular bars closes
Coglin’s, a fixture of Raleigh nightlife for seven years, closed for good on New Year’s Eve.
Bar owners Zack Medford, Brad Bowes and Ben Yannessa announced the closing Monday in a press release, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and mounting rent as the reasons for the closing. The owners also pointed to what they called lacking government aid and increased restrictions on bars among other factors.
“In the face of COVID19, (Coglin’s) fell victim to insufficient government aid, negligent leadership from elected officials and inequitable state policies,” Medford said in an emailed statement.
Starting in March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic pushed the Triangle’s restaurant industry into crisis. Dining rooms and bars were shut down to help slow the spread of cases. Many relied on takeout and federal aid to stay afloat.
In May, restaurant dining rooms reopened at 50% capacity, but bars stayed closed until October and then could only operate at 30% outdoor capacity. In recent weeks, as temperatures dropped, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order allowing cocktail sales to go.
After months of sitting closed and vacant and with limited sales, Medford said the back rent for Coglin’s passed $100,000.
‘It’s been a wild ride’
Opened in 2013 as downtown Raleigh began to sow the seeds of a nightlife scene, Coglin’s carved its niche by pumping ‘80s and ‘90s music onto Fayetteville Street. In the years before the pandemic, Coglin’s developed a following as one of the city’s busiest bars.
“From all of us at Coglin’s Raleigh: It’s been a wild ride,” the Coglin’s owners said in a statement. “These past seven years have been incredible, and while we hate to think the party has come to an end, we are grateful for all the friends we’ve made along the way. Thank you for all the love and support, and let us all pray for brighter days in 2021.”
Bars in North Carolina have had few ways to make money since the start of the pandemic.
In June, Medford formed the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association and sued Gov. Cooper in an effort to reopen bars alongside restaurants. That suit, as well as similar litigation from other bar owners, ultimately failed, with courts ruling that drawing the line between bars and restaurants fell within the state’s discretion.
State and federal public health officials have continually pointed to bars as places where COVID could spread more easily, due to their confined spaces. In June, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told a Senate committee that bars were “bad news.”
‘The debt skyrocketed’
Bar owners, though, pointed to neighboring restaurants, which are able to serve drinks indoors. When fall turned to winter, Medford said bar business depended on the weather, while dining rooms were open at limited capacity.
“As temperatures dropped and rain clouds seemed to move in every weekend, Coglin’s struggled to attract customers willing to brave the weather while their direct competitors were allowed to operate inside their bar rooms all over town,” Medford said in an emailed statement.
“Like most bar owners across North Carolina, Coglin’s owners watched in horror as the debt skyrocketed, the doors remained closed and the staff remained furloughed. Unlike surrounding states, North Carolina’s leadership continued enforcing draconian restrictions on bars without offering real relief.”
Medford, who also owns Isaac Hunter’s Tavern and Paddy O’Beers, said he hopes to reopen Coglin’s in a new location.
