A group of lunchtime regulars huddle around a wooden table, sipping drinks and conversing. A photo of Dolly Parton beams down at an expansive wooden bartop from its place on a high-up shelf. Warm lighting, hanging plants and a sign declaring the illustrious list of in-house-made syrups and shrubs create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. This is Crow & Cart, a bar located in the heart of the Whiteaker Neighborhood in Eugene, and at the center of it all is creator and owner Tina McGill.
Initially, family ties drew McGill from the cattle ranch she grew up on in Northeastern Oregon to Eugene in the 1980s. In her early twenties, she took up bartending, which provided a flexible career opportunity and pathway into bar management and, later, ownership.
When a friend purchased what was to become Crow & Cart a year previous, McGill had no intention of buying it. That is, until she stepped inside. “The day I signed my lease, my husband and I came in and we put painter’s tape on the floor where I wanted everything to be. When we built it, I was within an inch without any measurement,” McGill said. “It was just a space that spoke to me. I’m supposed to be here, I guess.”
McGill and her team have made lasting connections with community members. Take Shan Anderson, an instructor at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. McGill partnered with the professor for Anderson’s Advertising Campaigns course, where students are tasked with creating a strategic campaign for a client. In this case, Crow & Cart.
“I thought that her dedication to craft and ingredients and atmosphere was a really ripe opportunity for the students to help a small business and get a broader audience,” Anderson said.
Through the course, UO students were given the opportunity to amplify Crow & Cart’s messaging, as well as its commitment to community, both for those inside the walls of Crow & Cart and in the Eugene area.
One Friday a month, McGill and her team donate 50% of their earnings to local nonprofits, spotlighting everyone from The Fourth Alarm Foundation, which supports the training, mental well-being and equipment of firefighters, to TransPonder, an organization committed to backing Eugene’s trans and gender diverse community.
“Everyone is welcome,” McGill said. “I see a lot of first dates, Tinder dates. A lot of the LGBTQ+ community feels very comfortable here. I think it’s really cool that we’ve been able to do fundraisers for them.”
Danyelle Hintz, an employee at Crow & Cart, seconds this sentiment about the establishment. “I like the chill atmosphere that’s there. I feel like we’re really laid back and still kind of fancy,” Hintz said. “The people we attract are really cool, down-to-earth people.”
Another focal point for McGill is to provide proper wages for her employees. “I just think it’s really important that people are financially supported in the best way that a business can do,” McGill said. “The people that I entrust with my business shouldn’t be given a bunch of responsibility without adequate compensation. I want them to feel supported that way and appreciated.”
As October dissolves into November, Crow & Cart is quickly approaching its first anniversary. “It seems like it took 15 years, and it seems like it took 15 minutes,” McGill said. “In the beginning, I was the majority of the labor force. I’ve been able to, piece by piece, find the right people to fit in. Everybody who works here is supposed to be here. They’re excellent.”
The late night locale has spent the past year teaming up with other Whiteaker neighborhood establishments to provide food, as well as cocktails, to a wide array of customers. To McGill and her fellow employees at Crow & Cart, customers come in as strangers but leave as friends.
