The owners of the iconic Eagle Leather in Melbourne have shared some sad news about the future of the business.
Taking to social media they announced news that in the building hosting the business is up for sale once again.
However it’s not immediate bad news for the business with several years left in their lease as they begin to plan for the future to ensure its ongoing success.
Eagle Leather will continue despite an uncertain future
Eagle Leather is more than just a store; it is a community hub where people from all walks of life can feel welcome and included, lending their support to various community groups and causes.
Recent anti LGBTQIA+ attacks on the community have seen the venue targeted by vandals, only strengthening the resolve of the owners to continue to maintain this safe haven.
Now the owners have revealed the future of this safe space is uncertain as the building that hosts the business is once again up for sale.
“You might remember back in 2023, the property that we have called home for almost two decades went up for sale” posted, recalling finding out that their home was going up for sale only when contractors arrived to erect the sign out the front of the building. Thankfully with no buyers to be found, Eagle Leather was able to continue operating after the building was taken off the market.
Once again the business faces the same uncertainty, however this time they at least knew in advance.
“We are sad to let our community know that our property is again up for sale, and we wanted to give you the heads up before the sign goes up” they wrote.
Thankfully the bad news isn’t immediate they assured their customers, reminding them of their lease conditions which will offer further stability in the foreseeable future.
“We want you to know that we still have a couple of years left on our lease, so we’re not going anywhere right now. Hoddle Street is our home. For 32 years it has been our stomping ground, and we have stamped our branding on the kinky queer tapestry that makes up this incredibly unique neighbourhood.”
While the opportunity to buy the building would be wonderful for their security moving forward, they revealed a price tag of $10 million was not something within reach.
“We’ve played out every possible scenario these last few weeks since we found out: buy the building ourselves, offer to extend the lease and/or pay more money, do a go fund me to buy the group of buildings, petition the state government, start some kind of sit in or march, but honestly, we’ve come to the conclusion that 10 million is a genuinely unachievable target considering the amount itself, the time frame needed to raise the money, and the combined value of the land they are looking to sell (we only make up about a quarter of the land for sale).”
But Eagle Leather haven’t been sitting quietly they revealed, telling their customers they have been advocating for further protections for the business
“What’s happening to us now is just another reason that over the last several years, we’ve been fighting to gain some “culturally significant” protections to curb the development of buildings that house vital queer spaces, pieces of living history. Because a space like ours is more than the sum of its parts, more than the bricks and mortar, more than whatever value you can put on its square meterage or “location, location, location”.”
“Our business received 75 submissions to the Yarra City Council‘s LGBTQIA+ Sites of Significance survey. This informed the later, more in depth Heritage Study by GML Heritage which found that Eagle Leather is a place “of high social and historical significance” and that our business “provides a touchstone and a safe haven for marginalised people from all over the world”.”
Despite their efforts this won’t provide immediate protection for the building they said.
“Unfortunately, despite all of our best efforts at this over the last several years, it will be too late for cultural significance protections like this to save our current building, but we are determined to keep working on this goal because it is definitely not too late for these protections to aid other queer businesses in the area in future, especially some of our longstanding bars and clubs.”
Most importantly they have implored the community to not only get behind their own business to show support, but to get out and support all their fellow venues in the community.
“We realise that money is tight these days for most of us, so if you aren’t in a position to support queer businesses financially, know there are so many other ways you can help. Share posts and news from your favourite shops, bars, and clubs. Give a 5 star google review. Tell your friends that these places exist” the implored.
Above all they reminded their community they will continue to fight and continue operating this important community space, no matter what that looks like in the future.
“Know that we are resilient, we are prepared, we have a lot of fight left in us, and when our community is behind us, we always win in the end. Know that we are putting in the work now to attempt to find ourselves a “forever home” for our beautiful business that means so much to so many of you. And know that YES, we’re going to do our very best to take our historical Wall of Fame bricks with us!!!”
You can read their full statement online on their Facebook page.