Kirby’s Beer Store is getting new owners. And they want to move forward from controversy

Kirby’s Beer Store — the tiny, WSU-adjacent bar that’s become a Wichita icon over the last 52 years — is about to get a new set of owners.

Those owners say they want to move forward from drama that played out on social media last week when one of the current owners made a derogatory comment online about members of the LGBTQ community — a comment she later apologized for.

Eric Harrison, one of five new owners, says the group considers itself stewards of the Kirby’s legacy and plans no changes, but they do want to make it clear that Kirby’s has always been and will remain a safe place that celebrates inclusivity.

“Gay and trans people are not only part of my real family and of my biological family, but they’re also part of my chosen family,” Harrison said. “It was very hard to read those statements, but it is what it is, and I would like to just move forward.”

Alex Thomas, who bought Kirby’s in 2008 and owns 51% of the bar, said that he’s selling all but 10% of his interest to new owners. Thomas also owns stakes in several local entertainment businesses, including the tiki bar Lava & Tonic, sandwich shop Solly & Jude’s and entertainment venue The Cotillion.

The new owners are Harrison and his wife, Mary, local professionals who also are members of a band that often plays at Kirby’s; Kirby’s current manager Jenny Osborn; Andrew Rutter, who is the general manager at Lava & Tonic; and Will Morita, who works at both Lava & Tonic and Solly & Jude’s.

The other 49% of Kirby’s has been owned since 2018 by Ryan and Tanisha Bell, who were at the center of the controversy. The couple, who run the day-to-day operations at Kirby’s, decided long before last week’s post to sell their portion of the bar, Thomas said.

The online storm started after Ryan Bell authored a post on Facebook that read, “The revolution will be catered,” seemingly a reference to a student activist at Columbia University who was widely mocked by conservative websites after saying that she wanted the school to commit to allowing food and water to get to pro-Palestinian protesters.

“I’ll be sure to bring my lgbqt friends with me. What a party it will be,” one commenter said on Ryan Bell’s post, to which Tanisha Bell replied, “ummm, the minor attracted persons are not invited... sorry I don’t support pedophiles.”

That comment was shared across social media last week, and people began flooding the Kirby’s website with angry posts and comments, prompting Thomas to post a statement on his personal Facebook page, which was then shared on the Kirby’s page. In it, he said that he did not believe that the Bells were prejudiced people, but in this case that they were “ill informed.”

The couple apologized in their own social media statements but later removed them. This week, Ryan Bell said he did not want to talk at length about what happened before the sale of Kirby’s was final. But he did share the following statement:

“My wife and I would like to congratulate all the new owners and are excited to see them continue the amazing Kirby’s tradition. We will continue to support the artists and bartenders that work tirelessly to create one of the best places on Earth. Nothing would please us more than to know Kirby’s best days are yet to come.”

In a phone interview on Friday, Thomas said that the social media storm made him decide to fast track an ownership transition that was already in the works.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, his partners’ political ideology had shifted.

“They were wanting to speak out more on what they felt were their viewpoints, and that wouldn’t match with Kirby’s ideology and would potentially hurt Kirby’s,” Thomas said.

Discussions with the new owners were already underway before the post, Thomas said. He approached people who he knew “shared the same ethos about what Kirby’s should be” about buying a stake in the bar.

Harrison, who along with his wife will take over 30 percent of the ownership, said that buying a bar was not in his plans. But he and Mary almost had their wedding at Kirby’s, he said, and he was a regular at the bar before he became a parent. The couple’s synth pop band, Brave Boy, had just performed at the bar when they got the call from Thomas saying he wanted to accelerate the sale.

Harrison, who works at e-learning company Nexlearn as the director of digital marketing, said he’ll handle marketing for the bar.

The new owners don’t plan any major changes at Kirby’s, Harrison said. Last week, they put out their own statement on the Kirby’s Facebook page that read, in part:

“As our first official order of business, we, the new owners, want to reaffirm Kirby’s Beer Store as an inclusive community center for all. In light of recent statements by a predecessor, we especially want to assure the LGBTQIA+ community that Kirby’s is not only a safe space that accepts you but also loves and celebrates you. All minorities, including women and members of the queer community, are the crucial voices that make Kirby’s what it is.”

Thomas said he’s been disheartened by the online vitriol aimed at Kirby’s and its owners since the controversy erupted. Though he vehemently disagrees with what Tanisha posted on social media, most of the people who are attacking Kirby’s don’t know the Bells, and they don’t know him, he said. He guesses many of them have never been in Kirby’s.

The Bells made many improvements at Kirby’s during their tenure and “ushered in a new era” at the bar, especially after COVID, Thomas said.

He said that he and Ryan Bell have engaged in “passionate debating” about their differing political views for some time. But Thomas said he’s the type of person who’s always willing to have discussions with people who he disagrees with, and the Bells are no exception.

“There have been some times where we’ve been screaming at each other,” Thomas said of Ryan Bell. “But I’m not willing to just walk away from someone I’ve known for a decade.”

The Bells will help with the transition throughout the sale process, which won’t be final until licenses can be issued in the new owners’ names, Thomas said.

Though Kirby’s owns the pinball arcade next door, The Flipside, Ryan Bell will continue to maintain the machines.

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