Tami Montgomery calls herself someone who would have never considered buying a bar. In fact, while she may own a bar on paper, she doesn’t consider herself in the “bar business.”
“I’m in the community business,” she says. “Not just the gay community business — the Memphis community. I just want to leave it how I found it.”
Montgomery has been the owner of Dru’s Bar (1474 Madison Avenue) since 2008. And there’s a surprising story about how she came to be in either business in the first place. According to Montgomery, she got two separate phone calls on two different days, notifying her that the bar — known as The Jungle at that time — was for sale.
“I am not someone who ever, ever, considered buying a bar,” Montgomery says. “I’m not one of those people that would go out and have a drink and say, ‘Oh I’d like to own a bar sometime.’ That is not me.”
She says those phone calls felt like cosmic alignment. Taking guidance from that, Montgomery told the previous owner she wanted to purchase the building. Two weeks later, she quit her job to prepare to reopen.
“It was a bit of an out-of-the-blue experience, but I felt like it was the right decision, and I’ve been working at it ever since,” she says.
Dru’s has meant a lot of things to a lot of people who walk through the doors. While some may come in looking for a fun night out, others have found it to be a sanctuary of sorts.
“We’ve taken the approach that all nice people are welcome,” Montgomery says. “We couldn’t care less whether you’re gay, straight, Black, white — we don’t care. If you’re a nice person, you are welcome to be a part of our family.”
Dru’s was created as a space for people to be themselves and have fun — free of judgement. Those who frequent the bar have admitted it’s hard not to be drawn in by the welcoming environment. Aubrey Wallace — also known as Aubrey Ombre in drag — has been working at Dru’s for 15 years.
“For a lot of us [Dru’s has] been here for so long it’s more than just a bar — it’s home,” Wallace says. “It’s the only place we really have left we can fight for. This is where all of us started. This is forever going to be home, and we’re going to come together and keep it going no matter what.”
Montgomery notes Dru’s doesn’t have a lot of the problems that come with bar culture such as fights and brawls. Yet this doesn’t mean it’s exempt from the troubles many bars have faced since the pandemic.
“We’re just now starting to see the true fallout from all the Covid stuff and shutdowns,” Montgomery says. “All the bars and restaurants that have closed recently. I think we’re finally seeing that happen. It’s like, ‘We’ve held on as long as we can.’ Most people who own a small business have been in the same position. … Nothing has bounced back like we thought it would in the industry as a whole.”
Terry W. has helped organize an upcoming benefit for Dru’s. He notes that gay clubs in the area are dwindling after Atomic Rose’s closure last year, but adds that Dru’s incurred additional expenses when a brick was thrown through the window.
“Your safe places for the whole community, they’re kind of going away,” Terry says. “But Tami is working hard to not let that happen. She wants everybody to have a place.”
To help with its challenges, the bar will be hosting a Benefit Drag Bingo on February 23rd at 1 p.m. In addition to bingo, patrons can participate in raffles and a silent auction and purchase their own brick to sign at the bar. The event, hosted by Pat McCooter and Shyla Tucker, will also have live entertainment and a roast of Montgomery.
“There’s been so much that Tami has done,” Terry says. “We want to come back and help her. She has been there for everybody — it’s time everybody comes for her.”