Nuts, wasn't done: patrons nay only receive service if seated.
Not at all good news for strip clubs. May be only stage shows without giving tips directly to dancers. I guess it will be up to each operator and manage if they can be profitable and manage the headaches by opening up. As a customer, if social distancing is strictly adhered to or enforced, it wouldn't make sense for me to go.
It won't make sense if they can't even make enough to cover daily operatong costs. Even with no dancers and no customers, opening the doors means increasing the following expense lines: payroll (and taxes) for bartenders and bouncers, electricity for lighting, air conditioning, refrigeration of beverages, daily cleaning supplies, water bill (even if you only flush the toilets and wash your hands), and a few others. If your income is ZERO because no one is coming to ogle dancers from 6' away when the internet is free, then it does not make sense to increase operating expenses from idle. During the worst part of the stay at home, we had staff stay home if there weren't enough patients, kept the lights off, and raised the thermostat.
So, inless the owner is also a dancer and can tend bar...
Gammu, the biggest expense for many clubs is commercial rent, which doesn't go away when they are closed. Neither does insurance premiums nor, in the case of clubs with multiple locations, managerial staff salaries.
Variable expenses OTOH are a much lighter piece of the pie. Bartenders get wait staff pay and rely mostly on tips, as do DJs. Also, the vast bulk of clubs are not bouncer heavy and those guys don't make much either.
Keep in mind also that 50% capacity is still a high number in a lot of places since capacity limits include some standing room only measurement.
So you had best believe that they will be trying to open, especially those that sell high markup alcohol. Shit, two J'ville clubs have already been operating under the guise of restaurants for some days now.
===> "I thought Florida reopened a couple weeks ago. If the clubs there aren't even open yet what hope do we have in California? : ("
FL was in Phase 1, which excluded bars and movie theaters among others.
And in answer to your question, no hope at all. It is widely understood that CA, IL, NY, NJ and CT are all going to drag their feet for as long as possible in order to justify an additional federal bailout of their public pension systems. As the saying goes, never let a good crisis go to waste. Their budgets were already in the shitter before COVID and shutting down made it exponentially worse.
Nightclubs are also excluded. I'm sure some will try to open claiming to be bars, much as some are opening as restaurants now. I'm sure some will be left alone. But, any who are under pressure already will be on even thinner ice than usual so may not be much fun.
All of my regular clubs are opening tomorrow, making a special point to say "with entertainers." A few Jax clubs opened before as restaurants with the consent of local authorities, but as part of that deal they were expressly prohibited from having dancers.
w.r.t. SoFlo overall openings - Palm Beach county opened a bit ahead of Broward co & Broward opened a bit b/f Miami-Dade - perhaps SC openings will follow similarly with PB clubs opening first then Broward clubs a bit later then Miami Dade clubs last (but who knows)
The wrench in the works will be each individual municipality's attitude towards strip clubs. Most of Miami is probably going to okay with it, most Ft Lauderdale will not. I think Pasco and Tampa will also be tolerant.
What clubs are in Fort Lauderdale? They pushed them out already. I guess Club 54 is maybe technically Fort Lauderdale, but it blows anyway.
I'm hoping Rick & Papi are both right, that Strip Clubs are "Bars" not "NightClubs" and that the previous pattern where it's the majority of the state, then Palm Beach a week or two later, then Broward, followed by Dade.
I did notice today that Rhino in West Palm is allegedly opening tonight at 7. They're not being explicit about "with entertainers" though. https://spearmintrhino.com/location/west… so I guess we'll see. I won't be there.
The scuttlebutt is that clubs in most Florida counties are re-opening today. The three Miami area counties- Miami-dade, Broward, and Palm Beach are explicitly excluded from phase 2 as that have not met the targets for reduced infection rates. Unfortunately, those are three closest counties for many of us that have worthwhile clubs. Tampa is dry and Pasco clubs seem to be pretty scuzzy, as I recall.
On the bright side, the lagging counties seem to be bucking the state guidelines and slightly loosening restrictions. Maybe some clubs will try a quiet, under the radar, soft opening.
^ This is what I was initially afraid of since I'm usually a night shift worker, but thankfully, Jacksonville only had a mandatory curfew for one night. Otherwise, day shift girls would increase tremendously.
If customers weren't permitted to go out clubbing, then there's definitely no point in having dancers or even the club open past whatever hour.
^ It's amazing how night time protests in many parts of FL suddenly stopped one the bars opened back up. Other states might take a lesson from that. Too bad they can't open the bars up yet in S. FL, where the night time shenanigans are still alive and well.
21 comments
Not at all good news for strip clubs. May be only stage shows without giving tips directly to dancers. I guess it will be up to each operator and manage if they can be profitable and manage the headaches by opening up. As a customer, if social distancing is strictly adhered to or enforced, it wouldn't make sense for me to go.
So, inless the owner is also a dancer and can tend bar...
Variable expenses OTOH are a much lighter piece of the pie. Bartenders get wait staff pay and rely mostly on tips, as do DJs. Also, the vast bulk of clubs are not bouncer heavy and those guys don't make much either.
Keep in mind also that 50% capacity is still a high number in a lot of places since capacity limits include some standing room only measurement.
So you had best believe that they will be trying to open, especially those that sell high markup alcohol. Shit, two J'ville clubs have already been operating under the guise of restaurants for some days now.
FL was in Phase 1, which excluded bars and movie theaters among others.
And in answer to your question, no hope at all. It is widely understood that CA, IL, NY, NJ and CT are all going to drag their feet for as long as possible in order to justify an additional federal bailout of their public pension systems. As the saying goes, never let a good crisis go to waste. Their budgets were already in the shitter before COVID and shutting down made it exponentially worse.
I'm hoping Rick & Papi are both right, that Strip Clubs are "Bars" not "NightClubs" and that the previous pattern where it's the majority of the state, then Palm Beach a week or two later, then Broward, followed by Dade.
I did notice today that Rhino in West Palm is allegedly opening tonight at 7. They're not being explicit about "with entertainers" though. https://spearmintrhino.com/location/west… so I guess we'll see. I won't be there.
On the bright side, the lagging counties seem to be bucking the state guidelines and slightly loosening restrictions. Maybe some clubs will try a quiet, under the radar, soft opening.
If customers weren't permitted to go out clubbing, then there's definitely no point in having dancers or even the club open past whatever hour.