Changes Celebrates 34 Years of Cheerful Times

Few businesses in our neighborhood have been as enduring as Changes near the corner of 45 ^th and Meridian. The Hawaiian Store and Murphy’s come to mind although Murphy’s used to be down the street a bit where Starbuck’s used to be (and Young Tea now is).

On Sunday, January 29, Changes celebrated its 34^th anniversary. Ryan from Changes emailed us with the announcement:

Changes, the longest continually owned-and-operated gay bar in Seattle, celebrated their 34th Anniversary on Sunday, January 29 with a night of karaoke and celebratory times. The bar’s owner Floyd McIsaac was 36 years old when he opened Changes in 1989. Floyd was one of the youngest owners of a gay bar in Seattle at that time. Changes operated as a tavern when they first opened in 1989. “Most drinking establishments were a tavern back in those days. We didn’t get our liquor license until 2001. It is amazing to see how the nightclub scene in Seattle has changed over the last 34 years” says Floyd.

Floyd knew all of the gay bar owners back in the day. Most of the bars were on Capitol Hill when he opened Changes along 45th Street in the Wallingford neighborhood. The gay bar owners sent cautionary messages Floyd’s way about opening a bar in the Wallingford neighborhood given the bar’s proximity away from Capitol Hill where many of the gay venues were located but Floyd followed his vision. “I believe that I have been the only gay bar owner to own a bar in Seattle consistently for this period of time. I am proud to say that I own this bar, which offers a safe space for LGBTQIA+ community members and our allies. We have long-standing customers that have come here since I opened shop and we have new faces coming in all the time. It is great to see the bar that I founded become a go-to destination point in North Seattle and a retail fixture on the main commercial strip in the Wallingford neighborhood” says Floyd.

Changes opens daily at noon. Regular features include: