October 16, 2026
Molly McVety/PhillyVoice
Marsha’s, Philly's first women's sports bar, is closing 'for good' after just one year in business, owner Chivonn Anderson says.
Marsha's, Philadelphia's first women's sports bar, is closing a little more than one year after it opened on South Street.
The bar will shut down "for good" after this weekend, founder and owner Chivonn Anderson said in a social media post Thursday afternoon. Its final day in operation is Sunday.
"We have loved serving this community and still believe that more than ever this city needs more women/queer/BIPOC-owned businesses," Anderson's statement said. "We sincerely hope that someone is able to step up and fill this void."
Anderson, 46, attributed the closure to a public fallout with a former staff member who alleged that Marsha's was a hostile work environment for women and minority employees. The controversy led to widespread backlash on social media and a stark dropoff in customers, Anderson said.
"For the last six months, I've basically personally been floating the business," she said Friday. "I was hoping that things would turn around, but unfortunately they did not."
As the sole owner of the site on 430 South St., Anderson said she intends to hold onto the parcel and rent it out to another business that aims to carry on the original mission of creating a welcoming space that centers on women's sports and the queer community. But, she also hinted at the possibility of Marsha's returning.
"If for some reason, the truth gets out there and people are like, 'Oh, let's go back and support (Marsha's),' that changes things," she said. "I just want us to have a space as a community, and I'll do what I need to do to make sure that is a reality."
Marsha's, named after the LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P. Johnson, opened Sept. 19, 2025, inside the former Woolly Mammoth site. At the time, Anderson envisioned the bar serving as an "anchor" for the queer community, with an emphasis on showing women's sports, Philly teams and LGBTQ+ shows and films.
On the bar's opening night, there was a three-hour wait to get inside. The line to enter stretched around the block. Many customers said they were looking forward to the role the bar would play when Philly's WNBA team arrives in 2030.
"This space was needed, wanted and deserved," customer Jessalyn Grant-Bier said during Game 3 of the WNBA Finals last fall. "I will gladly give this place all my money and I hope it's here for decades."
Marsha's opening night attracted a three-hour wait to get inside the women's sports bar.
But Marsha's was not without its controversies. In February, the bar was swarmed by law enforcement officers — some masked — who said they received an anonymous complaint alleging the bar was serving alcohol after permitted hours, selling to underage customers and operating without proper licenses. The bar was found to be in compliance, Anderson said.
A few months later, Olivia Rhodes, a former bartender and manager of Marsha's, claimed that management fostered a hostile work environment against female and minority employees. Rhodes, a Black trans woman, said she was fired a week after expressing her concerns about the lack of diversification to a general manager who later resigned, Philadelphia Gay News reported.
Anderson called Rhodes' allegations "false" in an Instagram video. She proceeded to host community listening sessions to repair the bar's relationship with customers. But ultimately the efforts fell short.
"I know what it's like to grow up in a world where there are really no safe spaces for you," Anderson said. "With me opening Marsha's, I was trying to create that for my community. Everyone had a great time until this happened and then people felt like they were caught in the middle."
