Are Strip Clubs going Down Hill?

I concur. I don't like strip clubs nearly as much as I used to, either. The recession hit here in Seattle also in 2008. Another event further dampened strip club enjoyment here: A multi-agency law enforcement raid that closed four UHM strip clubs here. The region still hasn't recovered. But, I believe that competition from the internet has had the biggest impact: Mucho free porn, escort services, and web cam actresses are cutting into leisure time and disposable dollars that were previously spent in strip clubs.

"Are Strip Clubs going Down Hill?"

I would not say so.

Patronage by men is probably down in certain areas. WEB cams are overpriced & boring. Free Porn is OK, BUT like the Cams - you can't TOUCH a real woman. I've always preferred Clubs over escorts as you can SEE what you are buying.

Sorry VeryBigDwag, tomorrow. LOL.

I don't pretend to be an economist but it seems to me that the problem is the owners and dancers themselves by trying to gouge the customers out of every penny they can get. Instead of following like the auto makers did and lower prices to attract customers, They raise them to make up for the loss of customers, which further drives the customers away.

Once the customers are gone, the dancers can't make any money and move on to other things.

Lots of good comments. Yes, the free porn on the internet is a factor. Sometimes will just stay home and watch porn as cheaper, no driving, no hassles. And the gouging of customers is a factor. Noticed yesterday that one of my FAVs did not come by after seeing me, then an hour later came by all apologetic because the door girl told her some big rollers came in and she hung out with them. Turned out the big rollers did nothing for her. Not so much gouging, but who is going to spend the most on me TODAY, irrespective of what you spent in the past.

Yes

Girls work harder for less money, but the club I frequent has actually improved. It went from air dances 10 years ago to topless grinding, and it's not expensive compared to most. Drinks are dirt cheap too.

Yep they have definitely gone downhill. The dancers were so much hotter a few years ago which is why from now on I'm only gonna hit up strip clubs when I travel. I'll be in LA next week, so 4Play here I come!!!

If anything the free porn INCREASES my spending at strip clubs. Helps me think of new fantasies I want fulfilled.

I think the clubs go through ups and downs. Pasties coming to Ohio definitely dragged things down over the years though.

I agree with shadow's comments in principle, but the downhill trend is happening at many clubs that have not jacked up prices.

The bad economy 2008-present has devastated most people's disposable income, and hasn't recovered. Thus began a viscous cycle: less money being spent in clubs (either fewer customers or just less per customer) >> best talent leaves club (they feel they are worth more than what they are making or don't want to increase mileage) >> club bring in lower quality talent >> further depressing customers desire to spend >> negative feedback loop continues.

Also, the 'vibe' at many clubs just isn't the same. Similar negative feedback loop: less money being spent in clubs >> girls bitch about not making enough or drumming up sob stories to con more money >> further depressing customers desire to spend >> negative feedback loop continues. F***, the dancer's job is to sell "happy" and "fun" not "give me money" or "boo who I'm not making what I used to." I don't f-ing care. I got to clubs to enjoy myself and vent some of my woes not listen to the problems of the girls. I'm playing the girls to brighten my day not add their gloom on top. It's a f-ing customer service profession not charity organization.

OT.. it the same BS with airlines. Airlines are not transportation companies. Odds are any of the 4 big US domestic airlines will get me from A to B safely. I just don't want to be treated like cargo or deal with surly attendants. Ergo, airlines are really customer service companies that happen to own and operate airplanes. the should treat all of they customers as valuable to the enterprise not just the whales in first class.

Clubs that are jacking up prices are only compounding other more fundamental problems and accelerating the decline.

One dancer claims that higher prices help to attract hotter girls and that brings in more customers than the cheap value. Stripper shit!

When I was in Atlanta early this year, I made three trips to Follies. The day before sc's BD, his BD, and a couple of days after. All early evening visits. I'm not going to count the BD visit as it was skewed. The other two were quite different. One seemed decent and the other I was thinking it might not be a good place for this "creepy ass cracker". That chage was in a week! Time perhaps? Day of the week?

I'm spending less than I was a few years ago. I'm not buying as many dances. I'm not seeing as many hot girls as I remember in the past. I'm ok with not spending as much. I just hope I continue to find good reasons to keep spending.

I have no plans to spend more if some hot 9's or 10's show up except for one dollar stage tips unless they offer me the same dance prices as other favorites.

@clubber: my observations, mostly based on Saturday evenings.

without the xATF, both my total spending and frequency has doped considerably. also, it seems like there are no fresh faces anymore. You would think with the economy in the tank, clubs would be revolving doors with fresh new talent always rolling in. nope, the exact opposite. Same old crew for literally years. yawn!

I agree with Shadow& Mjx. That being said, my habits haven't changed. I'm not a big porn dude so the Internet hasn't changed my clubbing habits.

mjx,

I missed that, but you are correct. My two favorites club, well hardly ever see anyone new. That's a reason my visits have dropped this year. Even if new talent was there, my faves would sit with me as soon as I walked in, virtually negating my ability to meet anyone new were they there.

I believe in general, strip clubs are going downhill, but one of my regular clubs is much better than it used to be, the only thing holding it back is the fact it's only one-way contact there, which is something the club can't do much about. But my favorite club is worse than it used to be, partly because of LE scrutiny in the aftermath of their underage incident several years ago, partly because a flood temporarily closed its doors 2 years ago, and partly because the current owner seems to run off most of the good dancers (not that they all left, yet), not to mention a complete lack of a marketing plan.

I would have really thought with all the media portrayal strip clubs generate from rap stars and sports stars, they would see increased revenue. Guess I was totally wrong on that front

I'm surmising OP is looking at a last ~ 2-4 year timeframe. As I've traveled to significantly less clubs in the last 3 years, I'd still say there has been some subtle decline in the last few years. Mainly in that the peak hours start later, and the peak crowds aren't quite as crowded. Decline, yes, but is it enough to trigger clubs closing, or a significant reduction in quantity/quality of dancers ? In most cases, no. If I'm able to get a fave dancer (familiar, or a new one), who am I to complain ?

Yet, looking on other sites (namely pink site) i see a lot more camgirl posts and fewer dancer posts. Maybe talent is filtering more towards that direction. I see camming as expanding the envelope for entertainment, but personally wouldn't want it to replace live interaction with a dancer.

I've never done the cam girl thing and I never will when I have flesh and blood females to spend my time with.

No, I don't think strip clubs are going downhill.

Yes. Very much in decline. Out of a dozen clubs in Austin, I'll only go into three of them now. There were three other clubs I just completely gave up on this year.

In reality, one has to compare what they knew about particular clubs in the past to the same clubs now.

Changes could have more to do with outside influences than anything the club does.

Clubber- While I agree outside influences have something to do with it, the fact remains no strip club is ever better than the dancers they hire, and if clubs hire crappy dancers which scare customers away, that's on the club. And most clubs don't seem to want to challenge LE too much, which is probably the #1 external influence, so it seems like most of what causes clubs to go downhill is factors they can control. Also not really sure what other external influences there are, other than location.

@Estafador: the thing is, that portrayal sets people up for a great disappointment when they hit the real-world clubs. Someone expecting the environment of 1995 Scores or the massive "rainmaking" of rapper posses at KOD Miami at 2AM on Saturday after a Heat win, or polework like in Showgirls or Rock of Ages, is not going to find it at your average club at an hour Mr. Joe Normal is likely to stop in.

The economic situation after mid-2008 has created a "new normal" for a large segment of the population: "better be careful, recovery or no recovery I don't know when what I managed to build back up will only get clobbered again". Free web-nudity also has a strong influence. @mjx01: probably a lot of the potential "new talent" is heading straight for the cam girls side. And who can blame them: to a newbie girl the fact that nobody will be physically grabbing at her can be very attractive.

Most dancers here are hispanic or black. Nearly all the black dancers are ghetto, so are most of the hispancic girls. Black and hispancic dancers where much better 10 years ago. They are mostly ghetto now a days, and they make up a large portion of the clubs now.

It's hard to find a dancer I like these days. If there is one, she is wanted by nearly every other patron in the club because she is a rarity. Clubs these days really are for the thugs. Thats who these girls play to now.

It seems as if the internet has affected or completely displaced many a brick and mortar industries – perhaps SCs are not, or have not been, immune to this (internet) disruptive technology?

I think the internet is disrupting brick and mortar. The bad thing is, those girls will be nude on the internet the rest of their lives. Not sure how that will work out.

Papi- If you spend any time on the pink site (aka stripperweb), you'd swear that it should be called "camgirlweb". The cam section viewing counts outnumber the stripper related sections 3 fold or more. The new post counts are overwhelmingly more camming related. Certainly, more dancers (and wannabes) are going into camming. The big questions are:

1. Will camsites induce present strip club goers to forego club visits in favor of spending more time/$$ on camsites ?

2. Will camsites capture (AND MAINTAIN) the interest of an evolving segment (and generation) of cam junkies that will be addicted to the cam venue to the point of ignoring/rejecting other venues, stripclubs in particular ?

For me, the answer to #1 is no. However, stripclubs should dread the thought of #2 coming to fruition along with a whole generation of internet junkies devoid of any desire for human contact.

Yes minnow.

When I go over to SW every now and then; I’ll notice the cam folder/blog often has many x times of “currently viewing” members.

I just took a quick peek at SW and currently on the Stripping (General) blog/folder; there are 32 viewing whereas the Camming blog/folder has 102.

That is a good observation on your part and it may be indicative of many hos, I mean ladies, perhaps preferring camming to having our horny hands on them.

Most TUSCLers will always say that camming is no substitute for the flesh encounter of a SC – and I agree. But then again; two things that may give camming a boost at the expense of SCs:

1. it has been stated on TUSCL on several occasions that many of the very good looking dancers in the past (e.g. 1990s) got out of stripping when high contact dances and extras became more of the norm. Perahps those dancers that got out of the game due to the high contact; or those that will not get into it b/c of the high contact; will flow towards camming?

2. many dudes may not be able to SC b/c of the cost or b/c of a S.O. and camming may be a reasonable/acceptable compromise/choice for folks like these?

As the mileage/extras goes up and up, dancers who are not down with that can't make what they use to, so they have reason to find a new occupation. If a dancer is both highly sought after, and willing to deal with OTP (outside the pants) custy salami, I think she generally realizes can make more money and make better use of her time by being an escort.

I would agree that there has been a decline It seems that the bad economy hurt the upscale clubs in smaller cities (like Christie's in Canton, Ohio) where they had expanded during the boom times prior to 2008. The lack of high rollers most likely cut into the high caliber dancer pool in those places, as many girls went elsewhere. Bigger cities with convention centers, legal casinos (except for Ohio, which stupidly restricted strip clubs THEN legalized casino gambling)may still be able to support quality dancers, but at an exorbitant cost (and without the high mileage). Lots of little independent places are still doing OK (if the laws allow), but as noted, aren't drawing the hot new talent. The webcam thing got hot fast and may have attracted both talent and customers for a while, but as one who still visits webcam sites (as well as strip clubs), I can tell you that the fire as dimmed in that market as well. Too many performers and too many non-paying moochers makes for lots of cam-girl discontent (as seen in the complaints on those Stripperweb posts). The only advantage to the webcam is a lack of a LE threat, though some sites now suspend performers who violate their performance rules. Ultimately,if you have a good regular club (or camgirl for that matter) that still delivers quality at the decent price, consider yourself fortunate and take advantage of it before things change again.