After years of planning and nearly $200,000 in loans, Brandon Davis’ dream bar is now in ruins just a month after opening.
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Day Trip, a cocktail lounge and event space, opened its doors on August 22 in Asheville, North Carolina. It was the realization of a long-held dream for Davis and his husband, Davie, to establish an “inclusive, queer-owned safe space and gathering place for the community.” They even had plans to open a connected coffee shop on October 2.
However, after just 31 days of operation, the venue they diligently crafted now resembles “a scene out of an apocalypse movie.”
“The building is destroyed,” Davis told The Advocate. “Everything we purchased for the business has either vanished, been broken, or is covered in sewage and mud.”
Courtesy of Brandon Davis
Davis struggled to comprehend the “unbelievable” destruction when Hurricane Helene finally passed and he could assess the damage to his brand-new business. “Entering a space where my husband and I invested our hearts, souls, money, and all our time, only to find it covered in mud and torn apart was a gut punch,” he recalled.
Both Davis and his employees, some of whom had just been hired and were set to start at the coffee shop, now find themselves without any means of support. He also mentioned that he and his husband personally took out “$190,000 in loans” for the business while they were “without income,” leaving them with credit card bills to manage and no projected profits for the next two years.
In a cruel twist, Davis noted that they had to buy a new vehicle just a week before the storm hit, as their previous car had unexpectedly died.
“Now we have a car loan, but we can’t pay our mortgage,” he lamented. “We can’t manage three credit card debts or a personal loan for each of us.”
Courtesy of Brandon Davis
With cellphone service and internet access spotty in Asheville, Davis has been unable to contact his insurance agents to determine how much of the loss will be compensated. “Navigating this is really confusing and new for us as new business owners who have never dealt with insurance or a natural disaster before,” he explained.
Instead of running the events they had planned for Day Trip—such as fundraisers for the local queer community, dog adoptions, and a river cleanup scheduled for next week—Davis and his family are now focused on where to take their next shower.
“We definitely need that trash cleanup now,” he remarked. “It’s unreal to think that just a week ago, I was organizing events, and now the business isn’t even there.”
Hurricane Helene has claimed over 200 lives in the southeastern United States, including nearly 100 in North Carolina. Over one million residents are still without power. In Asheville, Davis reports, “there’s no running water,” and the current estimate is that it will take over a month before safe drinking water is restored. Many residents are currently “using buckets of water from the creek to flush their toilets.”
Courtesy of Brandon Davis
Despite such overwhelming loss, Davis considers himself fortunate. He noted that his “staff is safe, my little brother who lives with us is safe, and all my pets are safe.” While his home lacks power and running water, and the street is currently “inaccessible,” it remains intact.
“We’ve lost our business, our livelihood, and any financial security, but we feel lucky because so many others have lost their homes or their lives,” Davis stated. “There are power lines, telephone poles, and wires everywhere, with trees on houses. But our house survived intact.”
As the recovery efforts continue, Davis’s “immediate concern” is to provide his employees with money for food and gas to support them during this crisis. He has set up a GoFundMe to assist with Day Trip’s eventual reconstruction, but donations via his Venmo, @Brandondavis227, will offer immediate support to help cover essential bills and food costs.
Looking ahead, Davis knows they will need to “find a new location” to rebuild, stating, “We obviously can’t restore our business in the previous spot, and even if we could, that would be a poor decision given the likelihood of future storms becoming more severe.”
Courtesy of Brandon Davis
What has kept Davis motivated through this profoundly challenging loss is the immense display of “love and support from not only the global queer community but also from fellow small business owners.”
“The most important thing we need right now is for people to follow our journey and to be aware of the devastation surrounding us, as many are in desperate need,” he emphasized. “While I must focus on my family and rebuilding our livelihood, I don’t want to appear insensitive to those who have suffered more than we have.”
Davis emphasized that the communities in Asheville currently require “water, food, baby formula, menstrual hygiene products, and baby wipes for sanitation.” Various organizations aiding the affected areas also need donations.
Despite their challenges, Davis and his husband remain undaunted. “We will come back stronger with Day Trip 2.0,” he affirmed, expressing optimism that it will be “better than we could have ever envisioned.”
“If anything, this experience has intensified our determination to create an inclusive, safe space and cocktail bar of our dreams,” Davis stated. “We believe not only is it essential to rebuild, but we truly want to rebuild.”
Courtesy of Brandon Davis
