About the Getaway’s rebrand and transformation.
The past two years have been challenging for most but looking on the bright side, it was a great opportunity for us to take a deep look at ourselves and ask a big question. Are our actions representative of our values?
Well, we first needed to define not only what our values are as a company but also as members of this community. It wasn’t hard to realize that the most important thing for everyone on our team has and always will be the need to make all people feel seen, heard and safe. Beyond that we wish to make everyone feel welcome and empowered.
So we started with staff. Encouraging everyone to express their gender identity freely, respecting each other's pronouns and being receptive to mental health statuses.
Then we realized the message that extends from our team to the public and that is that the Getaway is a place for ‘Chill Vibes Only’. Along with this mantra is a list of big NO’s stating that we do not tolerate such things as transphobia, racism and hate speech. This is a message to everyone saying that ‘you are safe here’. This is a space where you won’t be judged. A space where you can relax, have a drink, put your feet up by the river and just chill without any worries just like you are on vacation...
...so we thought, great! We’ll make the Getaway a tiki bar by the river.
But that brought us to another big social issue, cultural appropriation. Even though the concept of a tiki bar might sound harmless to some, it can sometimes be offensive to others as it potentially desecrates something that is sacred to a group of people.
Few might roll their eyes and say it’s just a theme, but we don’t want to even run the risk of being disrespectful. It’s not just a matter of being politically correct to us, it’s a matter of respecting boundaries and interfacing with our community in the healthiest way possible.
Tiki was never the true essence of our original concept, in fact what we really wanted was to create a space that offered a getaway from your daily routine. We wanted it to feel as if you’ve gone on a tropical vacation and BINGO! Our tropical transformation was born.
Outta the way in a GOOD way
