Perruzza, who in July bought out his ex-husband and two other couples who partnered with him to open Pitchers, says many patrons mistakenly believe he is swimming in cash — a perception he says couldn’t be further from the truth.
Pitchers’ Dave Perruzza on Selling, Survival, and What’s Next
In a candid interview, Perruzza breaks down the financial realities behind the potential sale of Pitchers and A League of Her Own.
After eight years in business and months of mounting financial strain, Dave Perruzza is seeking a buyer for Pitchers and A League of Her Own (ALOHO), the sprawling Adams Morgan nightlife complex that includes one of the country’s few remaining lesbian bars.
“I’m trying to sell the business, the lease, and the liquor license that comes with it,” says Perruzza, noting that he does not own the physical 10,000 square-foot property that houses five different bars, indoor and outdoor seating, a dance floor, and multiple patios.
“I’ve gone through all my savings just to try to keep it open,” Perruzza says, explaining that the size of the venue has become financially unsustainable. “Pitchers is too big for me. I would love to have the capital to fix things in the building and not put myself behind on bills. But I’m not rich.”
In recent months, he says, he has used his remaining savings to cover payroll, gone without paying himself for three months, and charged basic expenses like utilities to his credit card to ensure employees continued to be paid.
However, neither Pitchers nor ALOHO are expected to close in the immediate future.
“I have 100% commitments until March 30, so even if I sell the bar, I wouldn’t let anybody take over until at least April 1,” Perruzza says. “I don’t intend on not fulfilling my commitments.”
Perruzza has not yet received an offer, though three potential buyers have expressed interest in taking over the bar’s lease, which runs through 2028 with a five-year renewal option, as well as its restaurant and liquor licenses.
He declines to provide additional details about the potential buyers — all of whom are located outside of D.C. — noting that he signed a nondisclosure agreement as part of the sale process.
“The guys I’m dealing with…try to keep gay establishments within the gay community by selling to other gay people,” Perruzza says of the Zacuto Group, a California-based real estate firm handling the bar’s sale.
Local internet sleuths, however, uncovered the listing online last week, whipping up a frenzy of speculation about the future of Pitchers.
“It was supposed to be super private,” Perruzza says. “I don’t know how it got out or why the bar was listed on the website. They weren’t supposed to put anything out until I could tell my staff first. Because I didn’t want everybody to panic. And because if I don’t get the offer I want, I’m not going to sell it.”
Until a sale is finalized, Perruzza plans to continue operating the bar as usual.
While Perruzza is mum on the asking price, he says any offer would need to reflect the value of the lease and be substantial enough to cover his Small Business Administration loan, outstanding bills, and a payment plan for sales tax and other deferred expenses.
He is hopeful that if business picks up over the next two months, he will be able to reduce some of his debt without a sale.
Perruzza says the Pitchers complex has several features that could make it attractive to a prospective buyer, including five separate bars, a kitchen, ample dance floor space, and a diverse regular clientele likely to continue patronizing the space if it remains an LGBTQ venue.
“I still, honestly, think Pitchers is the best bar in the city,” he says. “I just don’t have the money to put in to do better things with it. I would love to see it go to somebody who buys the bar and has the resources to invest in it.”
Even if the lease is sold, Perruzza says he will retain the naming rights to both Pitchers and A League of Her Own, meaning any future use of those names could be licensed with his permission.
Perruzza says revenue at Pitchers and ALOHO was particularly hard hit by last year’s government shutdown, which sharply reduced foot traffic.
“It’s been a rough year with the government closing down,” he says. “Forty-nine days of not having people making money in the city is pretty bad. While Trump’s been in office, we’ve lost a lot of tourism because a lot of gay people don’t want to come to D.C. And all of that happened right before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Normally, we make a little extra money in those months prior to the holidays, so we can prepare for a slowdown in business in January.”
Perruzza has also had to cover several major, unexpected expenses out of pocket.
“Two of my heating systems broke, so I had to replace them, and I had to replace an AC unit, and the front doors of the building were falling apart, so I had to replace them as well,” he recounts. “Those expenses came at a time when I didn’t have that extra money to spend $22,000 on heating and air conditioning, and an extra $12,000 on my door.”
“People think I’m rich, and I travel a lot,” he says. “But I travel because my boyfriend goes to seminars, and I tag along, so I only have to pay for my plane ticket.”
While inflation and higher food and liquor costs have placed stress on the business, Perruzza is hesitant to raise prices, believing it would drive customers away.
“Everything’s gone up in price,” he says. “But I can’t charge more because people don’t have the money to pay more. So I’m making less. I feel that if I charged more, it would be even harder to make money. D.C. is very price-driven. Yes, a lot of the newer bars can charge $15 for a drink — which is crazy to me that people are paying for that — but in my bar, you can get two drinks for that.”
The routine costs of operating a business have only added to the financial pressure on Perruzza, who says even recent efforts by elected officials to lower liquor liability insurance costs haven’t made a meaningful impact.
“I’ve kept my prices the same. But taxes went up. All my insurance rates went up,” Perruzza says. “D.C. has some of the highest liquor liability insurance rates in the country. I pay $86,000 a year just in liquor liability insurance — that’s over $7,000 a month. Those costs usually hit at the same time as my credit card processing fees, which have also increased.”
Perruzza also says changes by other establishments have cut into his business, drawing away some regular patrons on certain nights of the week.
“My bar’s busy every weekend. On Friday, Saturday, we’re packed,” he says. “But when Trade expanded and opened its patio, I feel like a lot of the other bars panicked and started doing lesbian parties on Thursdays. So that hurt my bar because ALOHO was always the only lesbian bar in D.C. But I don’t fault the lesbians for not coming on Thursdays, because if I were stuck going to the same bar over and over, I’d want to try new spots.”
Some people claim Pitchers and ALOHO’s location in Adams Morgan is “too far” from other prominent gay nightlife venues in the U Street and 14th Street corridors, but Perruzza dismisses that narrative as “bullshit.”
“You could walk to my bar quicker than you could to any of the U Street bars or P Street bars,” Perruzza says. “And if you’re driving from Virginia, you’re best off going to Pitchers because it’s practically right off Rock Creek Parkway.”
Perruzza suggests that some older gay men avoid his bar because of misogyny, objecting to the presence of women — even lesbians — a hangup he says younger queer patrons do not share.
“People will say, ‘Oh, you have too many women in Pitchers.’ Well, they’re lesbians. They’re not hitting on you,” he says.
Perruzza also believes that the increased use of THC gummies has cut into his liquor sales
“I think people take gummies now rather than go out,” he says. “And if they do go out, they don’t drink or drink less.”
Looking ahead, Perruzza says he is open to opening a smaller bar with fewer levels and a much smaller staff (Pitchers currently employs 47 people). His ideal space would be no larger than JR.’s in Dupont Circle, where he worked as a manager for 22 years.
“I’m verging on, ‘Do I even want to own again?'” Perruzza says. “Do I want to be stressed out? I’ve been stressed out the past year,” he says, noting that his beloved dog, Cher, died last week, “and the bar’s been giving me headaches. It’s been a really shitty year for me.”
He adds that while he has ideas for another “amazing bar,” any future venture would depend on the space, rent, and overall sustainability — and that he is determined not to put himself back in a situation like the past year.
He has weighed the idea of working for another establishment, rather than setting up his own business.
“I’m okay with working for somebody else. I know people think I have an ego, but I don’t,” Perruzza says. “I already have one job lined up, because someone’s been trying to hire me forever, and I told them that if I sell the bar, I will come work for them for a few months, because their business needs help.”
He’s even considering leaving the nightlife industry altogether.
“I know it sounds stupid, but I’ve always wanted to buy a food truck — do a New York-style deli truck where people just order their sandwiches, I sit there, I make the sandwiches, and I do it every day for like three hours, and I go home and that’s it,” he says. “I’d be happy with a food truck or a little ice cream store because I can make a killer gelato. So who knows what life has in store for me?”
You must be logged in to post a comment.