A staple of Washington Ave's nightlife scene has closed after just over five years in business. On Saturday, the Twitter account for Hughes Hangar revealed the business would close that night and informed patrons that all drinks would be $4.
Although the corresponding Facebook post announcing the closure has been deleted, one of the club's employees seemed to confirm the closure with a Tweet of her own.
Tonight is the last night that Hughes Hangar is open! $4 for basically anything you want. Come watch me slang some dranks for the last time.
— mean edge girl (@vikkibranden) March 12, 2016
When it opened in mid-2011, Hughes Hangar's luxurious interior and high-style details represented something new on the scene. The club thrived as one of the city's top hotspots, even launching The De Gaulle sister concept on the same property in 2014.
Of course, nightclubs have a shelf life, and it seems Hughes Hangar's patrons had moved on to other options. Records from the State Comptroller's Office show that liquor sales from December 2015 declined to approximately $205,000 compared to 322,000 in December 2014. January 2016 sales were just over $124,000 compared to over $155,000 in January 2015. With new competition from Midtown clubs like Clé and VrSI as well as recent Washington Ave openings La Roux and Concrete Cowboy, the trend of declining sales probably couldn't be reversed.
CultureMap has sought comment from the club via email about the closure and the space's future, including April's scheduled Houston Bacon Bourbon Festival, but has yet to receive a reply. We will update this story as more news becomes available.
Update: In an email to CultureMap, Hughes Hangar event coordinator Jillian Vazquez confirms both the club and The De Gaulle are "permanently closed." Vazquez is seeking other venues for those with events scheduled at the property. "If anyone would like to help relocate our clients, please feel free to call me directly at 832-916-8061 or send an email to info@hugheshangar.com. Thank you," she concludes.
