Chicago's Hideout To Reopen In January After 'Intense' Internal Review

CHICAGO — The owners of a popular Chicago bar and music venue plan to reopen for business early next year but say that they will do so after taking “a long look” at how they operate.

Owners of the Hideout said in a released statement on Wednesday that the venue that has hosted local musicians in a cozy space will reopen on January 10. In a joint statement, owners Mike Hinchsliff, Jim Hinchsliff, Tim Tuten and Katie Tuten said that the process of taking an internal look at their business practices has been both intense and emotional.

They said that the process included considering “who we are, what we are doing, and what the Hideout is all about.” This comes nearly two months after the venue closed to “navigate a situation” involving allegations by a former employee over how he was treated while employed by the business.

The October announcement came after Hideout program director Mykele Deville wrote in a lengthy Instagram post that he experienced “trauma and pain” while working at the business.

On Wednesday, the Hideout’s owners said that they will reopen, making sure that everyone – especially those who work at the venue — feel welcome.

“We believe that everyone – owners, staff, performers, or patrons – who walks through our doors must treat each other with respect and decency, the statement said. “No exceptions."During our hiatus, we heard over and over just how important the Hideout is to so many people.”

In a lengthy Instagram post in the fall, Deville wrote that the Hideout's owners and leadership team pushed back on most of his ideas and said in addition to booking shows at the venue, he was tasked with other tasks such as cleaning up the performance shows, checking COVID-19 vaccination cards, cleaning and maintaining the green room as well as other “time-consuming tasks.”

He said that the owners were “slow to respond” when the venue was vandalized with white supremacist symbols and had its power cut. He also said he was once spat by on a person he approached about the venue’s mask policy and said that “leadership did nothing to support me,” Deville wrote in the Instagram post.

Now, two months later, as the Hideout's owners prepare to reopen, they said they will do so with important changes set to be put into place. The ownership group said that the venue’s human resources advisor interviewed all Hideout staff and owners to find out “what’s working and what isn’t”.

The group said that changes include:

• Implementing a new leadership reporting structures
• Adding additional support and resources for staff
• Creating a Diversity & Inclusion Council for our staff
• Formalizing our open hiring process and incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion goals in that process
• Developing key performance indicators that are universal to all employees
• Conducting ongoing facilitated sessions on topics including disrupting bias

"Now, our job is to put these ideas into action,” the ownership statement reads. “We are not perfect, we are a work in progress. But we are absolutely committed to trying to do what is right. And we know the Hideout community will hold us accountable as we move forward.”