Average strip club profits

26 comments

• samsung1

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  13 years ago

  I don't know the answer. I am sure there are some bars that do better than the strip clubs because of their better location and the fact that there is a large number of female drinkers or couples who don't go to strip clubs.
• jackslash

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  13 years ago

  A strip club that is half-way efficiently run should make a lot of money. The mark-up on drinks alone should make them profitable ($8.25 for a beer! $8.00 for a bottle of water!), but they also make money from the dancers by charging them to dance.
• SuperDude

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  13 years ago

  Owning a SC is a license to print money.
• txtittyfan

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  13 years ago

  Like any other business venture, it is a function of location, management and customers. The Candy Store in Phoenix is a small average club that does tremendous business for its size and is highly profitable. HiLiter and Bourbon Street are very busy clubs for their size and do extremely well. On the other extreme, you have the high end clubs with higher overhead and less patronage per sq ft, or any other metric you want to consider. The secret in Phoenix is quality women and $10 dances in a decent club without excessive frills.
• georgmicrodong

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  13 years ago

  Based on the cars I see 'em driving, I suspect the owners themselves are doing well, irrespective of how the club is doing. :)
• txtittyfan

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  13 years ago

  To answer your question, I put some assumptions together for a club like the HiLiter. Even with low rev assumptions, they generate good cash flow. They easily average over 400 customers/day for the week. ASSUMPTIONS HOURS OF OPERATION 15/DAY MANHOURS/DAY 150 AVG WAGE/HR 15 CUSTOMERS/DAY 400 PROFIT/CUSTOMER 5 DANCERS/DAY 30 TIP OUT/DANCER 20 COVER CHARGE 5 REVENUE TIP OUT 600 COVER 2000 PROFIT/CUSTOMER 2000 GROSS REVENUE 4600 EXPENSES WAGES 2250 OPER PROFIT/DAY 2350
• OmegaWest

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  13 years ago

  your forgeting taxes, insurance utilities inventory etc into your numbers as well as advertising, but yes it would seem they do well
• jackslash

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  13 years ago

  Some owners also make extra money by cheating on their taxes. A club owner in the Detroit area was recently convicted. I'm glad that dancers never cheat on their income tax.
• dudeanonymous

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  13 years ago

  @tx: Rent? Mortgage? Boatloads of aspirin for the headaches?
• sanitago

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  13 years ago

  as with any other business, much of the success of a club boils down to three things: location, location, location. a club has to have a good customer 'catchment', a population base it can draw customers off of, or it needs to be in a high-traffic area (along a major interstate or near an airport are good examples) that can provide a steady flow of people who might wish to 'partake of their wares'. lacking either of these, a club is just going to be a money pit.
• samsung1

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  13 years ago

  Also varies seasonally and depending on what day of the week it is.
• gatorfan

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  13 years ago

  Profit and Loss Income Blowjobs $200,000 Anal $50,000 Vaginal $250,000 Expenses Keeping the bitches happy $20,000 Other shit $5,000 Profit = huge
• bumrubber

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  13 years ago

  So much of this business is under the table that there's no way of knowing.
• cobraguy

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  13 years ago

  It's quite a bit an avg size club that's only does ok and seeing under 500 a week can easily break 6 figures in a month gross.
• farmerart

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  13 years ago

  You are right, bumrubber. With so much of the SC business being cash the temptation to skim must be overwhelming. I saw the audited books of an Alberta SC last year and the return on equity (based on the asking price for the club) was absolutely unacceptable for me. The asking price for the club would have to have been cut by 75% to make the numbers acceptable for me to be an investable business. The seller was rock solid firm on his asking price and when I pushed my arguments he just gave me a sly grin. So, obviously this is a business where profit statements shared with the tax authorities and profit in pocket are two completely different stories. My participation in the SC world shall be as a customer forever more.
• vincemichaels

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  13 years ago

  Shucks, farmerart. I can cut your overhead. I'll manage the place for free. LOL Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
• gsv

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  13 years ago

  In places like Flashdancers NYC - where private rooms start at about $600 per hour and go all the way up to $2000, I am sure the club is raking in some serious dough. The crazy thing is that there is still quite a demand for all these private rooms, even at those prices. Mixed drinks can be as much as $20. It's NYC still, so general operating costs are high, but definitely not high enough for this sort of price gouging. When I see this sort of thing, it really gets me thinking - sort of wish I owned the place. On that note, now that we're talking about average profits, has anyone from TUSCL ever looked at starting their own club? There are definitely a lot of logistics involved, but it seems rather lucrative if done right.
• cobraguy

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  13 years ago

  Currently working on it. And yes very lucrative I can tell u based on a 500 customer base /wk with an avg spender of 25$ ur looking at 50k gross in just alcohol without cover and any VIP stuff. That's fairly conservative even in this economy. Plenty of money to be made if the correct factors are in place
• gillydon

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  13 years ago

  SCs seem like the type of business where you also need to strategically donate to the local politicians.
• txtittyfan

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  13 years ago

  WTF gatorfan, your club doesn't charge for HJ?
• gsv

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  13 years ago

  @gillydon - yes, that is definitely true. Either that or maybe some VIP passes. :P
• Book Guy

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  13 years ago

  Strip-club owners and managers probably should budget for "strategic donations" both to politicians in the legitimate government, AND to strong-men in the less legitimate ... uh ... "causes" out there.
• Clubber

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  13 years ago

  gsv asks, "...has anyone from TUSCL ever looked at starting their own club?" In my case, yes, but it didn't get very far. About 15 years ago, a guy I worked with and I noticed that there were no clubs in the west part of South Florida south of Miami. We didn't get much past the discussion phase as the location would be a problem. We wanted to open in the yuppie area, and saw little hope of it happening. No one could even keep a regular bar going in the area. The liquor license itself would run about $200,000, IF you could find someone to part with one. I also talked with a fellow I knew a little that was in ownership. I also did some computer work in his club. I discussed my thoughts on the area, and he had thought the same and also did some preliminary investigation. The cost was prohibitive, in his estimation, which had become my friend and my conclusion, ergo, end of the idea. Also, he figured his wife would kill him!
• mmdv26

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  13 years ago

  @tx ends up at 2350 OPERATING margin/day. Obviously, overhead would be deducted from that. Many club owners also own the building they are in, so that keeps the rent profit at home. While it surely happens, I don't think "payoffs" to local politicians or enforcement personnel is all that common these days. I think legal fees might be a very large overhead item tho. Occasionally we hear of clubs doing things for civic or charitable causes. I think elected officials are hesitant to embrace the involvement of adult entertainment in community betterment projects.
• SuperDude

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  13 years ago

  Three sets of books, one for the IRs, one for the investors and one for the owner. When it comes to into the U.S. Bankruptcy Court all secrets are revealed. I know. The last disclosure statement online from Penthouse Club showed that they were able to maintain a profit by charging for booths, VIP, wristbands, valet parking, coat check, etc. We are the suckers paying for the profit margin.
• txtittyfan

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  13 years ago

  If you are going to comment on my analysis, at least take the time to read and understand it. A little intuitive reasoning would show that I factored a daily profit per customer at $5. It would be safe to assume that at a two drink purchase, gross drink margin would fall in the $6-10 range. This leaves $5 profit and $1-4 contribution to overhead per customer. And as I mentioned. I believe my revenue estimates are low.