Slow times?

I'm in Jersey. I think locally there appears to be a little slowdown, but no one is going hungry.

The clubs in my area were somewhat crowded the last time I visited. In fact every one I went to seemed more crowded than normal. I thought it might have something to do with everyone getting paid at the end of the month. It did seem slow around Memorial Day weekend but I thought people were traveling or didn't get paid yet. I usually don't have trouble finding a seat when a club has somewhere between 100 to 300 seats. I never asked so that's why my estimate is so wide. A few more people in each club I visited and I would think the clubs are too crowded. I don't like hunting all around for a chair to sit in.

Oh, when I went to get a lap dance, I don't recall seeing every seat taken by people getting lap dances in an area as big as I was in. It was a very busy night. Go to Platinum Plus in Columbia or The Masters in Myrtle Beach on a weekend night and you won't find a seat without waiting for someone to leave.

In Atlanta, the crowds are there but they aren't spending as much. I thought it more had to do with clubs closing and management feeling the need to be more cautious about what's allowed.

David: I've noticed the same trend trend in the same area going back for a couple of years. It's bound to lead to a decline in the quality of dancers around here eventually.

Generally, I think winter is busier than summer, except for clubs in seasonal tourist areas. On the other hand, sometimes there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

It is slower in my area in the summer months.. We have such shitty weather all winter long, everyone is enjoying the nice weather.. Winter in general for us here is better.. The last few years it seems it has dropped over all...

In my area, it just seems to be random. The trouble I have with the not paid argument is I get paid every other week, including this week, and someone else could get paid on the opposite set of weeks, so it ought to balance itself out. Then some people are paid weekly. But the truth is, I could go this Friday night at 10pm to my local club and they could have the third stage in use already, and I go next Friday night at 10pm and they could have absolutely no need for the third stage for at least an hour.

I have no idea if things have slowed down or not. I only go clubbing during off-off hours (eg. 2 pm on a Tuesday) so it's always slow and has been for years. Which is why I go at that time of day, I like slow.

I also club primarily during off-peak times so the crowd factor doesn't mean much to me. Still, the dancers all complain that, in general, guys are not spending like they used to. I think this has been the trend for a few years now. Even when the club is crowded guys are not buying dances the way they used to.

Is it the economy in general, fewer people have extravagant amounts of money to spend? Or is it the fact that expending disposable income on "adult" pursuits is more frowned upon than ever, meaning the borderline-timid customer has been intimidated out of attending as often, by the machinations of conservative political moves, and therefore the whole community of customers has been thinned a little bit? Or maybe is it just a perception that payments have gone down, whereas actually management has finagled a position where overall profit is up and continuing to grow but individual dancers don't see it: more clubs in total, especially in "clubby" areas (Bourbon Street, New Orleans, for example), all of them with higher-scale expectations (they are all what would have been called, in 1991, shooting for "high roller" status), perhaps?

At one time I was thinking about the high price of gas. It dropped back down a little here to around 2.83 or 2.85 a gallon at most stations. However I get around 23 to 24 miles per gallon without even trying too hard. If I go flying down the road, I still get 20 miles per gallon and blow an extra 3 bucks. Compared to the price of one or two drinks, the extra cost of gasoline isn't really affecting me too much yet. A few percent of the population is facing sub prime loan mortgage woes but I'm assuming they aren't visiting strip clubs with no money to spare. Overall the economy is slowing down. A couple of people I heard think we'll have a recession later this year or early next. So far that's only two people out of many. Seems like if the economy is slowing down, business in strip clubs and most places would be slowing down as well.

When I stated slowing down, I mean the growth rate of the economy is slowing down. I've been surprised at how the stock market has been skyrocketing the last 2 months. I didn't expect that with the economic growth rate slowing down so much.

If there is in fact some slow-down, I think it's more a function of increased competition than declining customer base. The number of clubs and strippers has increased dramatically, which is probably the main factor effecting any individual girl's income. Which means that the guys looking for extras and OTC encounters are more able to find them, and girls who aren't willing to play that game suffer economically. Plus other kinds of adult entertainment are much more readily available.

I also think there's a tendency for a lot of guys to be attracted to the new girl. So once she's no longer the new girl her income (along with her attitude) may decline. Which she perceives as business slowing.

In Michigan, it's the lousy economy.

I once heard a neat idea for a trick, though I don't know if it works or not. The best way to tell if the economy is slowing down, so the trick suggests, is to examine all the FREE things there are to do in your area. Walks and jogs in the park, picnics, museums on school-kid open days, swimming at the beach. If everyone seems to suddenly be INVESTING in those things -- putting in time, effort, signing up for their church choir -- then the economy is slowing down.

$2.85 for gasoline? I wish I could be so lucky.....$3.29 this morning and that is down from $3.79 over Memorial Day Weekend.

I'm undecided if it is the lousy economy or the increased competition. Maybe a combination of both.

Seems like the girls must be feeling the crunch...the club I visited Friday had 45 dancers -- and it was not an extremely large club. Hard to make any real money when the customer to dancer ratio is something like 2:1

I've always thought that the best indicator is the number of help-wanted signes in places like the grocery store and McDonalds. In good times there are help-wanted signs everywhere because people can get better jobs; in bad time those signs disappear. Right now in my area the signs are everywhere, much more so than 6 months or a year ago.

At one club I go to, you would think it's a boom time with a rip roaring economy. All the new dancers seem to be charging higher prices. I'm considering just telling anyone who's not one of my favorites no thanks and not bothering even asking how much they are charging. I saved some money this past weekend by not buying very many lap dances. I don't think that's why too many guys go to strip clubs though. The lap dance room has been packed as well. I guess I could just date girls instead but then I probably won't have any time left to go to strip clubs anymore. I'm not willing to pay more money for lap dances. Apparently I'm the minority at one of my local clubs. Of course how many dancers do you hear say "I'm not counting this song, I just wanted to start dancing for you."

Gas in my immediate area dropped in the last couple of days as well. It's 2.79 at the major stations and a couple of cheaper stations I've seen 2.74. I think my area may have some of the least expensive gas in the country. I've read about a couple of people in the local paper in my area figuring out ways to get over 100 mpg. One guy modified his Honda Civic and averages 100 mpg in the country and 75 in the city. Another guy who has a hybrid said he averages about 63 mpg but he also said he tries to keep his speed under 45 mph and does lots of coasting and slow acceleration.

Economy; gas prices; etc.

Like evilcyn said, things are slow at her place also, but for me, that's good, as I can have her all to myself with a lot of privacy. :-)

CG: You are correct. The Lumberg report says that SC has the lowest gas prices, of any state. A few years ago it was GA. $2.98 today at my favorite pit stop. That is lower than where I live. Augusta GA is usually cheaper than the Atlanta area but not always true and is also usually cheaper than Columbia SC. But also not always true. There are times that Atlanta is cheaper than Augusta or Columbia. It's a crap shoot. I just buy when I need it and don't go out of my way to save a few cents.

There are no "help wanted" signs at my favorite club. To me, it seems to be business as usuall. It is a rarity at any strip club to not hear a stripper complain about how slow business is. If business is slow than it should be a buyers market. Ask Ford or GM. The have had to lower prices and give incentives to attract customers. Dumb ass strippers just try to make up for it by raising prices. Which drives the customers away. I don't spend less money at my favorite club than other customers. In fact probabbly more. BUT, I get more for my buck. In my opinion the dancers that will do 2 for $20, take home more money than those that ask $25 or more for a single. My favorite dancers agree with my opinion.

We're close to the refineries here, always have had cheap gas. I got $2.899 per gallon of 87-octane (the cheap stuff) from an off-brand ("In And Out Gas" I wonder how they trade on the big board?). Shell is $2.949 right now.

Gasoline prices are often more a reflection of how much your state taxes it than how close you are to a refinery. State taxes very widely by state. Economic growth also often reflects the level of state taxation, states with high taxes are usually slow-growth states.

Wooops, meant "vary" not "very" but you already know that.