Morphing SC Business Model?

IMO – in general offer more/better value rather than frustrate custies by nickel & diming them or charging ridiculous fees for things like VIP – if they offered better value; they’d attract more custies rather than driving them away (and regular custies would visit more often).

“Better value” would also equate to better service from dancers by not allowing them to hide in the DR; sit in the club surfing on their smartphones; or sitting around ignoring custies.

Papi I agree more with your views than that of the OP.

I thought that Lone Wolf had good stuff to say, Alucard. By the way, Happy New Year. You should listen to Ranukam when he said that I support you. Yet you shit on me. It's ok, I forgive you.

I totally agree, they need to re-think things, clubs are constantly closing, and reopening. However it's not the best, and brightest buying and running clubs, usually it's former dancers or bouncers lacking the education, or wider skills needed to take it to the next level.

The biggest issue for most clubs is the issue of independent contractors versus employees.

I can't really agree with any of the points you listed.

Though I do think most clubs need to re-evaluate their model AND I doubt that will happen given who generally owns/runs them.

A big source of many non-chain run clubs is that are simply badly managed and poorly run. Chains like DejaVu & the Rhinos will survive because they are run with a corporate business model in place. But the "mom & pop" places often struggle and many have been bought up by the big players like Rhino. Time will tell, I guess.

sclvr = 'A big source of many non-chain run clubs is that are simply badly managed and poorly run'

PC cited several reasons that clubs are suffering aside from poor economy.

My addition: No clubs in my area are part of larger chain. Most of these clubs are so poorly managed they aren't even maximizing profit UNDER THE CURRENT BUSINESS MODEL.

Case in point: Over the holidays most of the clubs went 'dark' on social media. Only one or two even posted closing or changed holiday hours.

None of the clubs regularly post dancer rosters for day/night shift, etc.

And it's not just in the midwest/plains states, here's a post from StripClubHound today.

"Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Bad Management
Happy new year. I just made a tour of websites and Twitter feeds for clubs I know in the L.A. area. I see a wonderful example of the reason some of these clubs are starving and the girls are making money.

It's the holiday season and almost none of the clubs have been telling us anything online about when they're open and when they're not open. Did they close on New Year's Eve or have a big party? Are they open normal hours today? Will there be any girls there if they are open?

It was just like this at Christmas.

Real businesses want you to know when they're open and they want to make it as easy as possible for you. Strip clubs want you to guess or have to phone them.

The club I like the best at the moment is a half hour drive for me. I'm not going to go there unless I'm sure it's open. I'm also not going to go there unless I know which girls are working and how many there are.

The club's website tells me nothing. Their Twitter feed tells me nothing. Nothing is posted on ZBone or Boned In, two websites that over the strip clubs in this area.

I could call up and ask if they're open but I couldn't do that at 8 AM when I got up and was planning my day. I called and got the usual recorded announcement that told me their usual hours. It didn't say if they were open today or if so at what time.

I could call now but I've already planned my day. It's much easier when I can just click to a couple of different websites and see who's open and the lineup of dancers who are working. The clubs are making it difficult for me to be sure if I want to go and where.

I'm not going to waste my time calling and asking if they're open and what time and which girls. If they're not going to make it easy for me, I don't want to go there."

Before changing the current business model manage the club like other successful small businesses.

The SC industry is a classic case of excessive and badly designed government regulation.

When I was young, living in the Mid-West, it was fairly typical that genital contact was a bright line for many if not most women, a line they would not casually cross. So when dancers draw that line with me, I just accept it without thinking about it too much. Sure there are dancers for whom that line is less important. But in my experience, they are the ones who are not as sought after based on their general attractiveness. That too is the same as back when I was young, with women in general.

The OP seems to feel this line is disappearing. I think it's definitely changed in the sense that younger women assert their equal right to have recreation sex as a man would. But I get the feeling many or most women still feel icky/nasty about the idea of genital contact for money.

I still see as many if not more people in the more popular strip clubs as I've always seen. Of course the unemployment rate has been falling faster here than the rest of the nation so that could be a factor. I doubt I'm going to see any changes anytime soon.

Now, there are a few fellows here who follow Rick's and their stock. I do in an amusing sort of way though I don't own it. At the risk of starting something unintentionally, the recent uptick seems partly fueled from what I saw as an endeavor to diversify into non-club restaurants while also increasing their club income by going after the high end customers and leaving "us" PLs and slower spenders aside. So diversification, which relates to the web presence others have mentioned but unfortunately, it's not cutting pricing or making a place more PL friendly but perhaps the addition of more VIP services for higher fees. Why attract 5 guys at $20 bucks ahead when you can become exclusive and attract 1 or 2 at $100 and make the same or more as the latter may be more likely to spend more, teh 1%ers.

My fav tells me that at her club, the crowd on Friday and Saturday has a lot of people who don't buy one dance or tip a single dollar to the dancers. A big crowd doesn't always mean banking dancers.

Agree that escorts are a major competitor for the clubs. But the clubs still have a niche: you go and have a few drinks, meet a variety of women that you can sort through, and depending on the club and the girl you might even get off. Of course, if you want sex in a room you can try for an OTC with one of them.

Escorts are a pig in a poke unless you have regulars. With sites like Erotic Review you can usually avoid ripoffs and LE effectively, but it's a different experience.

I prefer the SC actually.

Ilbbaicnl I have heard that a lot from dancers at my favorite club. That guys just come in and sit, maybe tip but just buy drinks.

The Stripclub Hound has the biggest problem pegged with SC's, lack of quality info. The Cadillac Lounge in Providence has lots of features come but their events page doesn't have anything new listed since mid-may. They do run some ads but if you are going to bother bringing in features wouldn't the point be to bring people in by TELLING THEM about it?

And that's with special events, but everyday things are never listed. Daily Rosters of stage names, don't even need pictures or profiles so girl's privacy is safe, should be SOP. So if Jessica gave me a great time last time and I see she is on I will be more likely to hit the ATM(at my bank) and head in. To put it simply make me want to go, not just go because I can.

To the OP, I wouldn't want cams to operate in an SC and I can think of some clubs that are cash only that don't want to deal with CC companies taking a cut or dealing with the tax implications thereof. Plus you wouldn't put them on the floor or in the rooms so the girls would all be on the cams in the back.

One big change inside clubs would be stricter enforcement for girl's to be out of the back and on the floor. Have the house mom keep them from going back for too long. And don't let them stand in the back or sit doing nothing, at least have them help the waitresses or bartenders, or be greeters at the door. Anything so they don't give off a lethargic feel to the club. The greatest strength the SC has against AMPs and escorts is the environment and having girls who don't do anything and are openly ignoring customers just makes people feel unwelcome and then they won't come back.

/rant

I think it's a combination of it all.

On the club's part, there's so much more that could be done. First off, just a list of the dancers coming in that night on social media is helpful. There's nothing more disappointing than going and finding out your ATF isn't there. Let me know she's not, and I might save my money this time and spend more on her the next time. Hours and information might be helpful, too, as well as thinking about when to schedule parties, features or specials, relative to other events in town.

The dancers could do such a better job in a lot of clubs. Want to know why, even with fairly strict restrictions around Chicago, PoleKatz is rated so high? Because if you're good to the dancers, they treat you like you're the most important man in the house. Haven't had anything over-the-top happen there yet, but short of that, the experience is something else.

I think do think experienced clubbers are getting smarter about their experiences. They're looking for value for their money. They're price shopping and holding out for better experiences.

That's the thing. Make the experience better. Look at any other business. If you want revenue to go up, you have to make the experience better. Is your cable bill higher than it was 20 years ago? Yes. But 20 years ago, you had 50 channels. Ten years ago, you had 100. Now, you have 400. If you want those prices to go up, you have to make the experience better, too.

Clubs should cater to people like the casino's do,a small comp here a small comp there. It's funny what guys will pay when they think they are winning.

Strip Club Cams as the future. IMHO, I don't think so. TOUCH is a huge and major part of the experience. NOT possible with Cams.

@Alucard - You could do both. Watch and communicate with your favorite honey on cam. Then, if so desired, go in and touch her.

Win/Win. You have more accessibility and the Dancer has another income source.

It is already being done on MFC by a Dancer.

If it's a club with a cam, they better darn well make sure only the girls are on it. Last thing I want is to no longer be Anonymous.