Reggies now offers a revamped menu and prompts a safer space policy
Your favourite student bar has opened its doors as a newly-formed solidarity cooperative for the Fall semester as of Aug. 8. Along with becoming a Concordia co-op, Reggies has released a new menu and a membership service.
Adrian Longinotti, the president of Reggies and CSU Finance Coordinator said since opening Reggies last year for the first time following renovations, it was very successful financially and took back its title as the campus bar.
Longinotti said due to Reggies’ success since re-opening last year, he felt that turning it into a co-op would improve the experience for students and customers.
Turning Reggies into a cooperative will allow students the chance to be more involved on the input and future of the student bar, said Longinetti. “We want to keep that non-profit philosophy—we want to give back more and reinvest that into enhancing the Reggies experience.”
By becoming a cooperative Reggies now has a membership system. “We subsidize $5 of the $10 membership,” said Longinotti, which results in customers only having to pay $5 for a membership. “[With a membership] you get a 10 per cent discount on all food items—even on specials.”
Longinotti said the most important thing about obtaining a membership for Reggies is that members are considered part-owners of the co-op—they have a share in the organization. Members are given voting rights, allowing them to be a part of the decision-making process, said Longinotti. He said the first general meeting for Reggies will be held in November, with the exact date yet to be decided. He encourages members to attend so they can be involved and contribute to the future of Concordia’s student bar.
“We have implemented and adopted a safer space policy,” said Longinotti. In order for events to be hosted, he said, those who are booking the event must sign a mandatory document to ensure that those are booking the event acknowledge and maintain Reggies as a safe space.
The Concordian referenced an article to Longinotti published last March. The article discussed accusations of sexual harassment and statements made about some students recognized at the bar who had been known to some people for spiking drinks with GHB, also known as the date rape drug.
“It’s a new year, there’s a lot of potential for this place,” said Justin McLennen the bartender at Reggies. He commented on the safer space policy stating, “it’s a plus, it’s a positive sign. It will help people feel welcome.”
We asked Longinotti how he plans to ensure Reggies will be a safe space outside of hosted events. “We have hired more security,” said Longinotti. “The training for the staff also makes them have the knowledge and foundation of how to intervene and prevent something like this from happening.”
Longinetti said he is confident the training of the employees, more security and the safer space policy will ensure that Reggies does remain a safe space at Concordia.
“There are always going to be these things that might happen in a bar environment,” he said. “The most important thing is that we do everything in our power to try and prevent something like this from happening.”
Reggies is open to students and the public from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and open from 12:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Friday.
