Is the American strip club dying out?

The article has some interesting statistics that seem to back up its point. I suspect that there will always be clubs but I also doubt that the decline will reverse.

If anything the clubs are dying out from over zealous elected officials *cough cough Detroit*

Sad but all true. The article captures what we all know has been happening for some time.

I don't think that free internet porn is having much bad effect. There is nothing like the real thing. If any thing watching porn gets me more in the mood to hit the clubs. Government zeal and outrageous prices are the real culprits.

Wow what a surprise. Government regulation killing an industry. What the fuck else is new.


I see it consolidating. There are some places that have just too many clubs right now. I think we are just in catch up phase a little bit. The demand is not there for THAT many clubs.

But I just don't see it dying out anytime soon. I was Cheerleaders in Philly a couple weekends back. Packed to the gills. No seating. I've been to enough places where you just sitting down was not an option. Plenty of NYC spots get like that as well, that's why I won't do Manhattan clubs on a Friday/Saturday night, it's too much. I can't see such a popular thing just going away fully anytime soon.

I think that self-righteous Bible thumpers and over zealous government officials are a bigger threat to strip clubs than internet porn.

Changing? ... yes.

Dying?... no.

I don't think it's the "self-righteous Bible thumpers", since the per-capita number of strip clubs in the Bible belt is way higher than elsewhere. More likely urban gentrification and/or misdirected feminism.

Eh. This article was a bit melodramatic. Also, the data analysis was far from comprehensive and contained mostly localized phenomena bootstrapped to anecdotal observations and opinions.

The two hard stats, such as they are, were the annual revenue growth rate and the number of clubs and they paint a mixed picture, with the former actually going up from 2013 to 2018 an the latter going down.

Are strip clubs facing regulatory and legal headwinds in some places? Are tastes changing among some demographics? Are population shifts hurting clubs in some northern areas, in some cases a lot? The answer to all of these questions is of course "Yes."

But all I have to do is go up the road on a Friday night and see my favorite clubs packed to know that they are far from dead. Or travel to various areas with population growth and good local economies to see that strip clubs are alive and well. Heck, just look at RCI Hospitality, which reported growth in same club revenues from 2017 to 2018, most of which are located in places like FL and TX.

The club business will likely face ongoing challenges for the foreseeable future, but until someone comes up with a comparable experience involving live naked girls and personal interactions with them, I don't see it "dying" anytime soon.

Strip clubs are largely dead for someone like myself who doesn't travel much and who's looking for one (safe) long-term partner at a time. All things being equal, I would prefer *not* to have stripper partners. I'm still open to dancers, but the selection online is about two orders of magnitude greater and it reaches the demographic that I'm looking for. The comparison is akin to buying something on Amazon v. going to the local mom-and-pop store. E-commerce has changed the face of retail forever.

Strip clubs are good for spur-of-the-moment fun -- and that's about it.

Its been dead boy , Gringos flopping to Mexico and Thailand

Fuck off you faggot Nem, figures you'd think of thailand loser.

Uh huh.

We're all just guys typing.

IMO yes, American SCs are dying out. But its because of the hook up culture. Guys have the 3 strike out rule. meaning if you dont get any pussy by the 3rd date, you cut your loses and move on from that girl. This rule applies to strip clubs too. most PL are not getting any play in strip clubs too so they move on from 1 stripper to the next. Eventually they figure things out or stop going to strip clubs altogether. SC need new suckers everyday to survive because they have an inethical busy model of making promises and not delievering.

VH, the fact you think that you are destroying someone who looks at you the way I would dog shit on my footwear is a perfect exasmple of how fucking retarded you are loser. Punching me you faggot? This is on line bullshit and in real life you would do nothing except try to be invisible if you ever met me. here you are my on line equal, but in the real worl you're just a bug.

A toast to the decline “Cent'Anni”,

@loper

Your point it well taken-- there are a number of factors above and beyond the religiously-motivated morality police that are mounting opposition to strip clubs (and many other aspects of the sex industry). Misguided feminism (the type that portrays women as being helpless victims of men and thus needing protection from all things sexual) is a good example.

However, I'm skeptical of your claim that the per capita strip clubs are higher in the Bible belt than elsewhere. Is that statement data-based or opinion-based? I don't have any hard data, but when I look at the areas that seem to have a very high number of strip clubs per capita (e.g., Portland, Oregon, the state of New Jersey), I don't identify those areas as Bible Belt areas.

Both government intervention and stupidly high pricing seems to be what's closed down clubs in central ohio. $35/dance for a maybe 3 min song?....not going to work for most customers. $20/dance....that's fair and will probably get you more customers.

And I think the government intervention comes from both sides....leftist feminists and right bible thumpers....they both want to tell others how to live.

None of this speaks to one issue strip clubs have, which is many are owned and operated by incompetent individuals who would otherwise not be owning and operating a business. No one grows up saying they want to grow up to own a strip club. They all fell into it in some way. It's also not something you pass along to your kids, like car dealers do, for example.

@dandydan - The quibble I have with your point is that it’s always been this way and it worked.

To the general point, clubs are down in Maryland. They are down in Vegas. They are still good in Texas and Fl and some other places but I think it’s fair to say the industry is in a decline. People may differ on the cause, but many agree that it’s declining. I hope it bounces back.

Lets see old white guys love strippers, golf, cigars and steakhouses. 93% of all cigar manufacturers existing in 2005 are gone; golf courses are closing in huge numbers; steakhouses are in decline and so are strip clubs. Hmmmmmm; why?

As a general broadbrush comment, it appears that clubs in areas with lax enforcement, seem to flourish more - strip-clubs are an expensive hobby especially if one wants to have a good time - doesn't make much sense to drop $200 on a visit and maybe be able to just touch a dancer's hips (w.r.t. the many areas/cities were there is little to no mileage/contact) - I can't think of too many other outings where one would drop as much $$$ as is needed to have a good time in a SC - i.e. there needs to be value there for the avg guy to drop SC type-$$$ but unfortunately too-many SCs don't offer much value (in terms of what you get for what you spend) to get guys to loo$en up.

Based on my previous comment, I would think enforcement is the biggest headwind for SCs - many areas/cities have killed off SCs apparently often due to gentrification and not wanting SCs as part of the landscape going forward (or most likely big-investors not willing to invest in an area and redevelop it unless the SCs are vanished).

Not much a club can do to improve it's business-model to attract more custies, if the local government has it's sights set on it.

===> "Lets see old white guys love strippers, golf, cigars and steakhouses. 93% of all cigar manufacturers existing in 2005 are gone; golf courses are closing in huge numbers; steakhouses are in decline and so are strip clubs. Hmmmmmm; why?"

Lucky for us that it's not only old white guys who patronize strip clubs.

As rickdugan mentioned, RCI Hospitality operates like 35 clubs (30-40). They are increasing sales and earnings year over year. They probably want the weaker operators to disappear, which would mean they are taking market share. But total market demand could be in a long, slow decline over time; for the reasons that others have mentioned. As a public company, I would think that RCI may be more sensitive to bad publicity. So its clubs may be more regulated, less "fun," more focused on appealing to a very different crowd than your average TUSCL contributor.

I assume RCI means Ricks Corp - IDK all the clubs they own other than the Ricks clubs but AFAIK they own Tootsies in Miami where extras are as common as stage-dancing - I don't necessarily think RCI's clubs offer less-mileage than other clubs in the same geographic region, AFAIK

Soup sales have been declining in the U.S. for years, but I don't think Campbell's is going away anytime soon. Corned beef hash is eaten far less today than it was 30 years ago, yet you'll still find it on the store shelves and on restaurant menus.

I could go on. Tastes and preferences change over time, but until something comes along which provides a truly similar (or better) experience that is as easily accessible, strip clubs aren't going away IMO.

No one need be touigh around you VH. Pussies like you are meaningless in real life.

Since the late 90's Providence has lost 9 strip clubs. There are two in Boston's combat zone and yet when I was in college there was 19. Will they disappear completely? Not until the Government stops them, but they have been going downhill for years and within 25 years we'll lose another 30 - 50 %. Look at horse racing andcount the number of tracks existing 50 years ago compared to now. We have essentially 25 tracks that simulcast, so could we see strip clubs relagted to something similar? SAs recently as the 70's horse raciong was the number 1 spectator sport in the United States. Rick, with all due respect, I suggest its the "experience" that the younger crowd likes far less than prior generations. In an on-line world personal contact is an aberration.

===> "Rick, with all due respect, I suggest its the "experience" that the younger crowd likes far less than prior generations."

Ski, I hear what you're saying, but I think you're over-estimating the percentage of young people who do not find in-person naked girls to be appealing. The reason that strip club patrons skew a little older has more to do with disposable income more than anything else - it's always been the case. Those young people will eventually get older too and I don't think that online cam/porn will be nearly as satisfying for some of them when they have more years and more money in their pockets, just like it wasn't for many of us at a certain point.

You keep comparing clubs to a variety of obsolete products and services but miss one key point: unlike cigars, golf, horse racing, etc., naked girls will always be appealing to guys. There is no competition for that, even if there is more competition for the mode of delivery (online vs. in person). But a certain percentage of guys will always outgrow a static experience and crave a more in-person dynamic one and, in places where the clubs don't get regulated out of existence, they will find it.

Millennials have horrible social skills and that is a big reason cam sites, Patreon, and "premium snapchats" are gaining hold. Strip clubs are a social environment: talk with customers, make them feel good, ask for lap dances and put good customer service into the effort.

Go to a McDonalds and watch the various customers order food. The young people will order off the touchscreens rather than deal with the cashier. Older folks don't mind still greeting and interacting with a worker.

On a recent club visit I noticed the 20-something dancers would all sit on their phones in the corner of the room when not on stage. The late 30's dancers would approach random customers, talk about anything and everything with them, smile, and compliment the hell out of the patrons, making them feel good.

Also the general promiscuity of the younger generations is cutting into strip clubs. I can go on Tinder, Seeking, or a variety of other sites and fuck a 20-something young woman. Compare this to going to a strip club and spending hundreds of dollars, some of it going to the middleman, to just get a tease and blue balls.

Also factor in how cheap international travel has become for mongers. In the United States, $30 gets you a 3 minute lap dance. In Colombia, $30 gets you an hour of sex with a dimepiece.

It comes as no surprise that Tijuana brothels and German FKK clubs are frequently disxussed topics on this strip club website.

Electronman, I don't have any hard evidence, but I've driven all over the country, and there are far more clubs visible from the highway in places like Florida or South Carolina than in my New England.

Not so sure Loper as Club Desire; Fantasies; the Caddy, Wonderland ansd Zebra are all visible from 95; sort of like Scarletts in Florida. Rick I do get the disposable income part and that is the reason for the decline in the other businesses I mention, but in 37 years of looking at financial statements one thing that strikes me about younger people is the amazing income disparity based on education so for a lot of millenials and the following generartions they will either be well educated and make money, or have no education and make no money, because the $12.50 an hour job they have packing boxes, replaced the $40 an hour assembly line job at GM. I see far more people living paycheck to paycheck in their 30s now than I did in the 80s and 90s.
As far as the promiscuity of the younger generation: it doesn't exist. Every recent studies indicates that sex among younger people is below levels of the old folks when they were young. In the 60's and 70's we lived in an unsupervised world so there was no need to look for someone on-line, because you'd have sex with the bored females in your boring neighborhood. Friends with benefits is the updated term for fuck me friends, as apparently we were either classless, or more direct.

Just one more reason I dislike millennials as a group....less interested in sex?! What the fuck. When puberty hits, a human has trouble thinking about much else. I thought the girls of my age were uptight, I'd hoped today's young ladies would be more easy going having such an easy time of of accessing porn and such. But nnnoooooOOOOOoooooo. Just when I got old enough to have the money and experience to charm a younger lady, they up and become asexual! Dammit!

Now, the generation coming up behind the millennials is supposed to be the opposite of them. So maybe in 18 years or so things will get wild again!

:)

As long as prostitution remains illegal and one has to jump thru hoops for P4P and be more wary about being scammed (as a byproduct of it being illegal), I think strip-clubs will be around for easy real-time access to T&A - I would not be surprised if the weaker/shittier SCs keep closing b/c of the various factors that have been mentioned (in addition to the fact that b/c of the internet, word gets around easier w.r.t. shittier clubs which are thus avoided, vs back-in-the-day where many shitty SCs survived via not-in-the-know PLs visiting it) - if prostitution becomes legal, I think that would be the strongest headwind for SCs (beyond the current-state of cities wanting them out) - seems most countries where prostitution is legal, SCs don't fare too-well (why get shafted via overpriced and often watered-down drinks; parking fees; seating fees; cut-songs; expensive-ass VIP rooms; and often leave w/ blueballs or even getting ripped-off).

w.r.t. millenials and SCing - for one I think most 20-somethings have a lot going-on - they often have other single friends to hang with, date and/or have GFs (or are looking for one); often have a more active social life (have friends that are also single and they hang together and do stuff) - seems to me a single 20-something dude often has less of a need to hit a SC than a middle-aged guy that has been married for 25-years.

And then there is also the financial aspect - SCs can be sticker-shock if one wants to really have a good time - young folks are not used to spending big on anything and are always looking for ways to get stuff cheap or free - they are also getting started in their careers and not making a lot of $$$, and often it debt whether it'd be student-loans or credit cards (often both) - plus rents in many large cities are thru the fucking roof and not like 20+ years ago where it was not hard to find a decent apartment w/ a decent rent.

As Dugan mentioned, today's millenials will be tomorrow's middle-aged guys w/ good paying jobs and their own midlife-crisis which SCs can be a great remedy for 😊 - in-lieu of a better options for access to hot young women, strip clubs should still be around even if it means only the better clubs survive - unlike other things that go out of style, being horny and liking T&A does not.

Although, today's young men seem to be indoctrinated in today's ultra-liberal colleges and made to feel that acting out on their sexual-desires is being a low-life-douche and they should keep it in their pants unless you get a certified letter of consent from a female - and this may affect millenials' view of SCs as it exploiting women via the indoctrination they've received in these ultra-liberal colleges.

Papi said—>“Although, today's young men seem to be indoctrinated in today's ultra-liberal colleges and made to feel that acting out on their sexual-desires is being a low-life-douche and they should keep it in their pants unless you get a certified letter of consent from a female - and this may affect millenials' view of SCs as it exploiting women via the indoctrination they've received in these ultra-liberal colleges.”

Lol I wonder if that’s why Portland is the way it is. It’s the most respectful customers I’ve ever encountered—anywhere. But good lord I *really* had to put in a lot of time and effort into being personable with them. I say bring on the objectification if it keeps the wallets open 😭😭

^ spoken like a tru ho - keep it real girl
😃

The kind of feminism which is against strip clubs is not feminism, I am calling it Neo-Feminism.

Just like Neo-Liberalism is the cooption of Liberalism

I don't think Liberalism is the problem. Because San Francisco has always been more liberal than San Jose is why they have contact and UHM strip clubs and we do not. The newspapers in San Francisco mock LE when they go after strip clubs or massage. In the South Bay the newspapers praise the brave defenders of the community.

There are crack down waves, but most of the new regulations are blatantly unconstitutional. They are re-writes of what courts stuck down in the 60's and 70's.

DV says strip clubs are a dying industry, but I think most of that is just coming from looking at the drink sales. In some states it is public information how much these places take in from drinks.

And in most states all strip clubs serve alcohol. Public attitudes about alcohol continue to harden.

I don't think Online or Fembots are going to ever make any dent in strip clubs, that kind of stuff would be steps backwards.

Strip clubs are an American invention. Its because our laws prohibit prostitution, but our Constitution protects freedom of speech. So the original idea is visual only, no touching.

I think that kind of strip club is going. New clubs will be more contact, more like brothels, as they are in other countries.

So I think the Membership Club is the best way. Requires registration and id, and a small fee, and people do not like this. But I think the benefits are well wroth it.

Right off gets you out of zoning laws, public lewdness and sex laws. It is not a retail business.

Not impossible to enforce, but very difficult, and no public mandate. Not seen as a threat to the community.

Combine the nice back room of an AMP, with the casual front room of a strip club.

So don't call it massage as that entails licensing and inspections. Call it something else. Nice tables and other furniture, showers, hooks to hang your clothes on.

Then in the front room, most anything can happen, as good as that TJ HK Bar. And it is those front room feel ups and makeout sessions which make the back room sublime.

Maybe a smaller take than a strip club, but lower cost to set up. And could be considered expendable if LE wants to bust some.

SJG

Strip clubs have always been beyond the pale, so a boss is not going to send his secretary their.

But lots of young engineers used to cone regularly, with their bosses, to the Sunnyvale Brass Rail.

But that was a bikini bar, and these people on their lunch hour did not drink, no touching, no booths or back rooms.

The kinds of places I am describing above would of course have no alcohol, but they would be UHM.

SJG

I said it before. They would rather men spend that money anywhere else and they can collect taxes on it. That's all its about. And a bonus, they can virtue signal and claim they're doing something about sex trafficking.

Some politicians really believe that sex traficking is common.

They are mistaken, but they have little contact with hard living people, people in the sex trade, so they do not know.

As far as "virtue signaling", I find that cynical. Many local homeowner groups really are angered by things like sex work. They do see it as a blight. There world view is very narrow, but politicians and church people who are concerned about Sex Traficking, I would say that they are just ignorant. Don't have contact with peoples in the lower and more marginalized social classes.

Here in San Jose they are photographing street hookers and posting them on the Neighborhoods Groups. This pretty much forces SJPD to act, with or without evidence.

Again, just ignorance and an exagerated fear, and this concern about property values. These people are not liberals. Whether they admit it or not, they are fear mongering reactionaries.

SJG

nicespice posted above, quoting from Papi,

"
Papi said—>“Although, today's young men seem to be indoctrinated in today's ultra-liberal colleges and made to feel that acting out on their sexual-desires is being a low-life-douche and they should keep it in their pants unless you get a certified letter of consent from a female - and this may affect millenials' view of SCs as it exploiting women via the indoctrination they've received in these ultra-liberal colleges.”

Lol I wonder if that’s why Portland is the way it is. It’s the most respectful customers I’ve ever encountered—anywhere. But good lord I *really* had to put in a lot of time and effort into being personable with them. I say bring on the objectification if it keeps the wallets open
"

This idea of some "ultra-liberal" puritanical agenda is just plain wrong.

And feminists want women to own their own bodies. A strip club is a cabaret show, and with audience participation. Engaging with a stripper at stage, even with no touching, it is still a two way interaction.

What some academic feminists refer to as "objectification" means in mainstream commercial advertising, not in sex work.

SJG

No.

A newbie can fall into the spending trap. At this point in time I spend 80 pct on motel sessions with stripper sb vs lappers at a club.

Once u get one on roster meetup w regular basis she we be calling meetup. Sometimes I get bonus girls thrown one stripper did her 75 sessions did her best friend 35 sessions and then best friends room mate 68 sessions who called me soliciting sd relationship. This is play for pay no free ride from them.

The simple fact is that millenials are angry because they know they are not going to be middle aged people with good jobs. We are coming full circle to feudal times where the few lords will have people cook their food, clean their house, wait on tables, clean their clothes or maybe something pathetic like walk their dog or run errands.

Agree with george, fading in places, but not dying.

I don’t think they’re dying. The city is trying to kill them here but it hasn’t worked so far. We might not have the best clubs in the country compared to some other places but they’re good enough. I’ve been to Lexington a couple of times in the last few months and I haven’t gotten as lucky there as I have here.

Industry insiders say that the industry is dying. What I think it comes down to is just hardening attitudes about alcohol. Take away the alcohol and I think you could have a grown industry.

Yes, local LE busts stuff, but that comes and goes and seems not to keep up with the overall upwards mileage drift.

SJG

Just discovered this article from a year ago about the industry in Canada

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/a…

And a similar one here:

https://www.narcity.com/news/strip-clubs…

I recall this being a topic a couple years ago on this board. I do know in most major metros it's hard to open new clubs. I also know there is strong demand. We all know clubs offer way more mileage than they once did. This makes their existence less secure.

Camgirls and internet porn have done their damage. But golf is more likely to die than strip clubs in the coming decades. The younger generation is less Bible thumping and more ok with sex work in general.

The younger generation is more in favor of people doing sex work, not with them paying for it.

https://www.narcity.com/news/ontario-gov…

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/a…

Interesting articles. I still see this as mostly being about gentrification and hardening attitudes about alcohol.

Alcohol is a societal problem. But sexual attitudes, in my view, continue to loosen. So some places are outlawing sexual touching. Well where I am it has never been allowed. Over all more people think P4P sex with strippers and offered by strippers is okay.

But as a town gentrifies, other ways of looking at this come into play, concerned about an under culture and people who don't look or act middle-class.

And then blue collar workers finding that they have less money to spend because they are getting squeezed.

I still say that membership no alcohol clubs are a growth industry. Though in saying this I am looking at it from a cultural perspective. I want these clubs to flourish because of their cultural effect. I do understand that the standard strip club serves a very different market, and that these membership clubs will never have the cash flow of the traditional retail strip club.

I don't think MeToo has anything to do with this. It does not interfere with strip clubs, and it does not stigmatize them any more so than they always have been.

And likewise, feminism is not in any way being a problem.

Your more radial feminism is totally compatible with sex work.

SJG

Joe Bonamassa Official - "I'll Play The Blues For You" - Live At The Greek Theatre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoX0Olfq…