It’s been one year since Solar Café opened its doors, and while they’ve had their share of up and downs as any business does in its first year, it was with a great deal of anticipation that they signed a five-year lease earlier this year. Owners Dean Heath and Eric Jackson sat down with GayCalgary.com to discuss a year in business, and their plans for the future.

"While I have a lot of experience, what works for this location and demographic I am learning every single day. When we first started, we chose to open in this location.  We thought people would come here to eat and then go drink and dance. What we found was that people were not that hungry before going dancing. It was hard to target the daytime market with our target nighttime market," Heath said. The early days were a struggle because they attracted a young clientele that didn’t support the business financially.

"We stand behind the gay community, but a lot of the kids loitered during the daytime. Someone who was more professional, [like] a businessperson, would come here for lunch, see the kid’s behavior and conversations and would eat very fast and we would never see them again. We had to make a change to put money in the till. People also said they wanted a place to smoke, and going smoking meant being 18+, [which] eliminated the immature kid issue. However, we have had kids who just turned 18 who continue that attitude. It can be a struggle to make people realize ‘Hey, if you don’t purchase things then we won’t be around anymore for you to come hang out.’ It is the same situation with any establishment. The amount of people who were making purchases before we were licensed wasn’t enough to support my overhead. There is money in alcohol so we went licensed, and it did save the company. I would never start something this large unlicensed. This year we added ‘entertainment establishment’ to our license because we have something happening every night."

There are some in the community who compare Solar Café to the former popular hangout, The Midnight Café, which used to be on 8th Street.

"It wasn’t the plan to replace the Midnight, but we’ve definitely filled some of that niche," said Jackson. "Debbie, who used to own the Midnight, sent out an e-mail endorsing Solar."

Part of the comparison stems from the ISCCA’s weekly drag shows at the café, as well as their monthly fundraising brunches.

"Doug ‘Erica Divine’ Klein approached me before I had even opened the doors and asked me to advertise in the ball program. It was Doug who brought the court here, because with the Midnight Café closing they had nowhere to perform. We started as a monthly show, the first one was standing room only and a huge success, and it became [a regular event] every Saturday. The ISCCA fundraising brunch came about because they used to have the brunches at the Midnight, and [they decided to] try that. I was looking at it as these people were wanting to work with me and bring in revenue, I wasn’t going to say no," said Heath.

Both owners commented on the tremendous talent that is a vital part of the business.

"Jamieson Eakin has his own CD and is incredibly talented. He actually went to the first season of Canadian Idol and made it as far as Toronto. He will be leaving to go to Toronto to pursue his career, which will be a great loss, but until he goes we can see him every week for Open Mike. Charity Doucette is a great hostess for our Equinox parties. Charity being a naturalist and friendly witch, guides us through the events. We have Ryan Bump who is an actor who works for us part time, CJ and Tawde, who host Karaoke and the talent contest respectively, are also very talented." Heath told us, before praising his management team. "Doug Klein, who is known as Erica Divine is the new kitchen manager. He brings to us a lot of experience. He just took a community center from a 60K loss to a 200K profit. We are fortunate to have him - he has given so much to the community as a past Empress. Eric brings lots of experience, not only did he cook at Midnight Café but he knows a lot of people in the community.  He grew up here. In a lot of ways he is the front man of the company - he is very high profile. People would say ‘Dean who?’ but if you say Erica or Mystare they know them right away. A lot of people call and talk to Eric. I have never been one for fame, I prefer to keep out of the spotlight."

Solar Café also owes a lot to Allan Treleaven who is Heath’s financial partner, and used to own the Lacombe Globe newspaper.

"Someone took Al under their wing once, and he has done the same for me. Without his backing it doesn’t matter how much experience I have, we wouldn’t be here," said Heath.

There are big plans for the future of the Solar Café. Both Jackson and Heath eagerly talked about plans to expand seating capacity and add a 250 square foot patio from the front window to the tree. While their new lease has made the building non-smoking, nighttime patrons will still be able to light up.

"When we were non-smoking, a lot of the smokers wouldn’t go outside because it was the fall. Those smokers who said they would come if we went smoking, [did]. I was visiting a business associate and told him we had changed and he said ‘Oh. I won’t be coming to eat there then.’ My response was ‘I’ve been non-smoking for four months, you’ve never come to eat yet.’ I went non-smoking only because of the lease negotiations, but we are going to amend that. I have noticed a decrease in revenue in the past month, and ironically the person I mentioned hasn’t been in. Two smaller organizations said they were looking for a place to go that was non-smoking and they haven’t been in yet. ...With the adjustment we are going to make, we are going to be non-smoking till 5pm because the office tower is non-smoking and then smoking from 5pm to close. It works for both sides because the management company is happy and I get my smokers back. I strongly believe that non-smokers don’t drink as much. I am a non-smoker but as a matter of finance as a business owner, I have to do what will ensure the survival of the company."

Having survived the critical first year, Heath sees a great future for Solar Café.

"What a tumultuous year it was. My baby is one year old and learning to walk a bit more steadily. We are going to be looking not just to the gay community but also the arts community, because we are doing so much entertainment stuff at night. We’d like to blend the open minded straight crowd with the gay crowd.  We have a lot of big plans in the future, including the expansion. I step back and let others do what they do best, I do the business and let Doug run the kitchen and let Eric market, and together [we] create something great.

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Contributor Jason Clevett |

Locale Calgary |

Topic Solar Café | Business Review |

Photo Gallery Solar Cafe |