COVID-19 economy: Ivy Room is in a ‘good place’ after a tough year

ALBANY — The owners of the Ivy Room on San Pablo Avenue are in a good place for now after a trying year that saw the popular neighborhood bar and music venue on the brink of closing permanently during the prolonged COVID-19 emergency.

“Right now we’re currently closed,” said co-owner Lani Torres. “We decided to hibernate for the winter because we were losing money, so we currently have no shows. We’ve just been trying to pay hard costs.”

Co-owner Summer Gerbing added, “With the colder weather, we thought it was in our best interest to close and hibernate until we get to the other side. Things are not looking bad until early summer.”

Fundraisers, merchandise sales, online benefit shows, cocktails to-go and the like showed the support the small venue enjoyed in a community that extends well beyond Albany and helped the business to cover its expense through the spring and summer.

But it was a grant from a fund created by the folks behind the San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival that is seeing the Ivy Room through the end of the year and into 2021.