Hm, I was going to say Phoenix but I guess technically Jaguar’s is RCI owned.
Also seemed like Philly for a minute but I know Bucks is Vu owned.
Boston was but centerfolds sold to RCI.
Columbus OH seems like it’s 2 clubs are independent. (Tho tbh doesn’t seem like much a scene anyways)
Jacksonville FL seems owned by minor chains but nothing big?
Both those cities came up when googling “major US City”—some may disagree with that definition. 😅
There is Club Onyx and there's Onyx; they are not the same - Club Onyx is a chain of 3 or 4 black-clubs actually owned by Rick's Corp which owns the Ricks clubs and other clubs like Tootsies Miami, etc.
"Columbus OH seems like it’s 2 clubs are independent."
Not sure which 2 clubs out of about 10 clubs in Columbus you are referring to. The only one that I know is a chain is the newly renamed Bucks Platinum which used to be an independent club called Centerfolds until it was bought out during the pandemic. Columbus Gold gives off sort of a corporate owned vibe the couple of times I had been there but I'm not sure.
I could argue that the Cincinnati are doesn't have any chain owned clubs. Cincinnati (and surrounding parts of Ohio) itself doesn't have any clubs but there there are a few riggt across the state lines in Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana that are part of the Greater Cincinnati metro area. They are all low quality independent clubs but the only one worth anything (but not much) is Concepts in Lawrenceburg Indiana.
I've been to the Onyx clubs in Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta and they all had about the same vibe. Up until shadowcat posted the thread I hadn't given any thought to whether the Onyx's weren't all under the same umbrella.
"If clubs have the same name, are they actually part of a chain?"
Some are and some aren't, which is a commonly known thing for guys that travel. That's what I checked on before posting, which is why "thought" was in my comment that wasn't in the form of a question.
"And similarly there are clubs with different names that are actually owned by the same parent corporation."
I'd found that the Atlanta club wasn't owned by Rick's/under the same ownership before I posted. My comment said that without going into a bunch of detail.
The biggest national chain has lots of clubs which are unbranded. That is, they own it and run it, but it does not use their name. They seem to do this in metros where things are quite lose, and so they can and need to let things go further. So they want to run the good and competitive club, but they don't want it to come to tarnish their name and make them a nationwide target for LE.
If there is a crack down, then they will probably change to using their name with the reconstituted tamer club.
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Also seemed like Philly for a minute but I know Bucks is Vu owned.
Boston was but centerfolds sold to RCI.
Columbus OH seems like it’s 2 clubs are independent. (Tho tbh doesn’t seem like much a scene anyways)
Jacksonville FL seems owned by minor chains but nothing big?
Both those cities came up when googling “major US City”—some may disagree with that definition. 😅
There is Club Onyx and there's Onyx; they are not the same - Club Onyx is a chain of 3 or 4 black-clubs actually owned by Rick's Corp which owns the Ricks clubs and other clubs like Tootsies Miami, etc.
And similarly there are clubs with different names that are actually owned by the same parent corporation.
Not sure which 2 clubs out of about 10 clubs in Columbus you are referring to. The only one that I know is a chain is the newly renamed Bucks Platinum which used to be an independent club called Centerfolds until it was bought out during the pandemic. Columbus Gold gives off sort of a corporate owned vibe the couple of times I had been there but I'm not sure.
I could argue that the Cincinnati are doesn't have any chain owned clubs. Cincinnati (and surrounding parts of Ohio) itself doesn't have any clubs but there there are a few riggt across the state lines in Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana that are part of the Greater Cincinnati metro area. They are all low quality independent clubs but the only one worth anything (but not much) is Concepts in Lawrenceburg Indiana.
"If clubs have the same name, are they actually part of a chain?"
Some are and some aren't, which is a commonly known thing for guys that travel. That's what I checked on before posting, which is why "thought" was in my comment that wasn't in the form of a question.
"And similarly there are clubs with different names that are actually owned by the same parent corporation."
I'd found that the Atlanta club wasn't owned by Rick's/under the same ownership before I posted. My comment said that without going into a bunch of detail.
Then again, this area isn't a mecca for great clubs :(
Several years ago one of the downtown KCMO clubs announced plans for some affiliation with a chain but those plans fell through.
If there is a crack down, then they will probably change to using their name with the reconstituted tamer club.
SJG