BOISE, Idaho — Spacebar Arcade in downtown Boise for the last twelve years has been known for its classic games and neon decor. On Sunday, they closed their doors for good after a dramatic dip in sales.
The bar, which opened in 2012, was previously located over at 200 N. Capitol Blvd. In that space they did not have a liquor license, so they only sold selling beer, wine and canned cocktails.
Then, in 2023, they moved into a larger space at 620 W. Idaho St.
They were able to lease a liquor license in that space from April 2023 through January 2024. When it expired, they did not have a chance to renew the lease because Idaho passed a law that limits the number of times a liquor license can be sold and transferred.
RELATED: 'We're at the final boss': Spacebar Arcade calls for change after losing liquor license lease
The bar has been struggling since earlier this year after they lost the lease to the liquor license.
"I was going to keep on running and pushing and doing," owner Will Hay told KTVB Thursday. "Time ran out."
You could say they hit a glitch in their plans to be part of downtown for years to come.
"The liquor license was helping us dig out of the debt that we were in, and helping us pay all the bills, and starting to get some momentum going back into the business," Hay said.
Without the license, it was hard to make the sales they needed.
"We were digging with the shovel, and then when we lost that, we were digging with spoon, " Hay said. "We see a group of people, four or five people come in, you know, four people say, beer and wine is fine, one person wants spirits, and they leave."
Others come in, take pictures of the arcade ambiance, then also leave.
"We don't have what they're after, which is available in a lot of the other downtown establishments," he said about liquor.
To him, it wasn't an even playing field with competitors.
"We're not able to operate with that tool and so it puts us at an unfair advantage," he said.
After struggling to make rent a few times in the last several months, the building owner called game over, asking Spacebar Arcade to leave the building.
"That has been tough to process and to deal with, because we weren't done," Hay said.
Having no liquor license is the largest reason the bar struggled, according to Hay. But he said other factors played a role too, including the move and turnover of the other spaces in the building.
"The lights have been off the you know, the building looks dead from the outside," Hay said.
He said people commonly assumed the bar was always closed from what it appeared like on the street view. But it wasn't because of a lack of effort to always keep pushing.
"I have a young daughter," he said. "I've given up a lot of time with her to make sure that this makes it to the other side... (I) put in a lot of money, a lot of time."
And now Hay and his team can only look back on the memories that count.
"This was something special to them and to the community, and they are going to miss it greatly. And that fills my cup." he said.
As for all the games and bright lights inside the bar, Hay said he hasn't decided if he'll sell them in an auction or put them in storage.
Comments on social media have been circling around that people did not want to spend time at Spacebar Arcade because of sexual harassment they'd experienced at Spacebar Arcade.
Separate sexual harassment allegations were made against the bar owner and a former employee.
Hay, the owner, denies all sexual harassment allegations that are being posted about him. But did apologize for the sexual harassment allegations against his former employee. Hay said he only found out about the sexual harassment allegations about the former employee through the comments on his Facebook post about the bar closing.
"I was shocked, and I was hurt, and I was apologetic to those people that, that would have happened under my watch and that it would have happened in our bar, because that is not what we were about in this bar, and it was a huge mistake that I had hired that person," Hay told KTVB Thursday.