Post Covid SC

It’s definitely Wut?! 😩

Pink, weren't you a traveling dancer pre-COVID? I guess I'm questioning what your baseline is for comparison here.

In this area, the biggest change is the loss of a lot of veteran dancers. I stayed in touch with a few who were forced to take vanilla jobs when the clubs closed in 2020 for a handful of months. After that they never looked back. They had kids and their lifestyles changed a lot during the COVID shutdowns. Once your kids are used to having you home at night it's tough to go back. Some did try to come back in the early days pre-vaccine (the clubs here opened up in July of 2020 if they had restaurants) but the money was not good so they just said fuck it and retired.

In their place has arisen a crop of younger dancers. That's good in one way but bad in others. There is definitely a bit more eye candy bu they are much harder to relate to, especially since most of them don't have kids of their own or other serous obligations.

Anyway there it is fwiw.

Everything costs more in the clubs.

I lived in Seattle and traveled, now I have moved away and travel while spending about 8 months of the year working in Seattle. So I am doing the same thing I was before.

Everything costs more everywhere, everything is more expensive….

I think what they are referring to is all the dumb rules that were goin on during CoVid. Some clubs no touch, you gotta buy food, overcharging for all types of shit, lap dances in an outdoor tent, all that stupid shot that put me on the sidelines.

^^^This

Lap dances in an outdoor tent—ok, I did that one. Miserable. I’ll give ya that. 👎

Well said Muddy. Perhaps the smallest annoyance but yet most ridiculous, was the forced food. That was because in some states the pathetically slow re-opening rules applied only to "restaurants" and not regular bars and strip clubs. So mandatory slice of frozen pizza.

Yeah, that must have done a lot to "slow the spread" especially since the guy operating the microwave did it in between cleaning toilets and mopping up jizz in the VIP.

Underground clubs and parties did really well. But half assed mitigation efforts were.....half assed.

Sometimes I feel like I’m on a different planet than other people when it comes to COVID.

Pinksugardoll sounds like she hasn’t skipped a beat. Meanwhile, I could not travel into Canada for almost 2 years. Had to get COVID tests to travel in and out of the country. Didn’t dine out in a restaurant for a year. My small town was missing 25,000 college students for a year and a half due to COVID because everything was remote learning. To this day I still cannot enter the elementary school gym I used to play basketball at every week because nobody other than students or staff are allowed in the school. I’ve been to 2 sporting events and zero concerts since the start of 2020.

I have a friends, coworkers who travel more than me and they’ve mentioned certain parts of the country it’s like COVID never existed. Then once people started getting vaxxed reopening around the country certainly went different directions depending on where you were as well. I live in a very liberal town so I know my experience is very different than someone living in other parts of the country.

Clubs shut down completely here from March 2020 until roughly early fall 2020 when they opened with masks and social distancing and it was super weird. I'm fuzzy on the details but basically until the vaccine came out in Feb/Mar 2021 clubs were limping along.

"Post Covid" for clubs for me is vaxxed and waxed summer 2021.

===> "Perhaps the smallest annoyance but yet most ridiculous, was the forced food. That was because in some states the pathetically slow re-opening rules applied only to "restaurants" and not regular bars and strip clubs. So mandatory slice of frozen pizza."

Where I clubbed most folks ordered the tortillas chips with salsa - the cheapest item on the menu for $5.50, lol. Nobody ever took the mask requirements seriously here. When you are sitting at a bar you are always "drinking."

Covid affected both dancers and customers on an individual basis. An infamous dancer that has been mentioned recently lived in a state that had tight restrictions for a few months, but she didn't return for over a year because she had close family that could have a bad result from covid. I had another dancer say the same thing about having to go home to grandma when we had a tiny kiss.

Same goes for customers. Some stayed away because they were at high risk for a bad outcome from covid or they lived with someone in that position.

Like we are seeing now, if you are young and don't live with unhealthy people, you didn't get affected as much as others. It's the unaffected group that is fighting for getting back to a normal life while telling those that are affected if you need to.

shailynn what you have been experiencing there isn't the effects of Covid, it is the effect of government seizing control when they saw an opportunity. Most places virtually shut down for a little while at the start of covid in the spring of 2020 but only places with overbearing governments kept those harsh restrictions once the initial panic subsided. Some places reopened completely and others kept some restrictions like masks in certain settings.

Here are the biggest strip club changes I have noticed post covid around Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana:

Lot of experienced dancers didn't return after the lockdowns ended because they took the time to reevaluate and found different employment.

New dancers don't have as many veteran dancers to show them the ropes so it takes them longer to get the hang of things.

Prices went up on everything from cover charge to dances to cost of extras. (No different than the inflation everywhere else)

Some of the lower tier clubs never reopened after the shutdowns. Most of these places were struggling to break even before covid and the shut down was the last straw.

Fewer customers and a higher percentage of the customers are local vs people who are in town for business. Remote work and reduced business travel have had a major effect on how often a lot of guys (including me) hit a strip club.

Several clubs took the downtime when they were forced to close to remodel the club for the first time in decades.

Post covid I have had several dancers try to sell me on buying their digital content as we are wrapping up at the club. Not sure if that is covid related or just the result of the younger generation of dancers but why would they think I would pay to see them naked on my phone when I can pay to see (and feel) them naked in person.

There are custies that either haven't been back to SCing post-Covid, or only SC a fraction of what they used to – part of it is still a fear of Covid, and part of it changing life circumstances (e.g. working from home and not being able to get away from the wife; etc) – thus I assume there are circumstances that may have kept dancers away from the club and perhaps they went in a different direction in life b/c of the pandemic.

A couple of months ago I was at a dive that was part of my rotation pre-Covid – I saw a dancer that I knew from a different dive – I asked her about another dancer that worked at the other dive – that other dancer I knew since 2012 and was always at the other dive almost every time I visited – the few times I visited that other dive post-Covid I never saw the other dancer which I thought was a bit odd – I asked this dancer if she knew anything about the other dancer and she said the other dancer had quit dancing (although that other dancer had been dancing for years) – anyway the story I was told was that the house-mom at the other dive had passed-away from Covid and that she was best-friends w/ the other dancer and the other dancer was so shook-up that she quit dancing.

In Phoenix, the only lingering affect I’m aware of is the shift from veteran local dancers to a combination of newbies and travelers. As someone who prefers a small number of favorite dancers, this was a big negative.

I go to strip clubs for the strippers, who are generally people in their twenties. People in their twenties are still figuring out what they want to try and do with their lives normally. So, it's common that you go into the club to find that a fav has moved on, or has gone off her game, or there's somebody new, who makes your head swivel so hard you get whiplash. Typically, whatever changes are happening with the club itself don't seem important by comparison.

Maybe I got spoiled as a Follies regular but Atlanta does not seem to have recovered from Covid. The number and quality of dancers has not returned. The price of dances has stay pretty much pre covid level. Drink prices and entrance and parking prices are up in line with inflation. However VIP prices have way out paced the overall inflation rate. house fees are up slightly but dancer charges are up 30-50%.

I agree with the not much has changed. Costs of drinks, VIP, dances, admission have gone up. But I don't think Covid has anything to do with that. Inflation is just back. During the initial shutdown, many clubs took the opportunity to remodel. Some upgraded, some destroyed what made them fun. And right after the shutdown, and everyone had to wear a mask all the time, people were a little scared to touch each other. But that feeling has long gone. Maybe because I spend most of my time in Florida and we got rid of the Covid restrictions long before other states did. People are living their lives again. Thank goodness.

Mileage is up in certain places. Pretty sure there has been an uptick in my area. I’ve been seeing more reviews of my home club on here that’s woah…dancers are doing that?? I got the impression I was at the upper end of dance contact previously because some dancers refused to allow touching but now I guess not. Though at the end of the day staff still monitors stuff so it’s not going to really get too crazy. Also, ever since shut down #2, there are more customers who straight up ask for otc even though you only met them once. Customers used to be be more chill and not request that stuff as often.

And then apparently Portland is higher contact than it used to be? Reading club reviews of Polekatz in Chicago, it seems like floor dances allow a little more.

Also, I think in lots of places overall customer volume is down. But some of the customers who came in post Covid come in more often than previously. Judging by a few conversations, I think there was some people who are feeling more lonely than ever thanks to initially social distancing and also increasingly political polarization. Also, some may have been dealing with a shitshow in their close personal lives. (I’m sure the ones who experienced the opposite are the ones who haven’t come back in the clubs)

Some clubs increased prices of things. At my home club drink prices went up some. And on weekend nights, one has to pay to enter the lapdance area and that didn’t previously happen.

I haven’t been in a club that relies too much on customer turnover, so I’m curious there? I asked once dancer who was from NOLA how clubs are and she shrugs and says there is always money out there. So maybe it’s not as bad as I thought? I remember some dancers were bragging about Vegas, but I have no way of knowing what’s true or not there. I know I enjoyed hunting season in South Dakota, but each individual shift could be a weird hit or miss. But from what I’ve gathered, it’s always like that long before a pandemic.

^ you make a good point nicespice. Divorced older guy who lives alone, probably had some deaths in the family during COVID, they need some companionship. Not everyone has a goat to cuddle at night like SJG or a dead hooker like Icey.

My assumption is in most areas vice was deprioritized, removing the threat of raids, increasing mileage.

@shadow - I think less of the changes you are seeing are due to covid and more likely due to Follies closing. In its day it was a destination club as many on the board would fly in from across the country for the cheap dances, good talent and prevalent high mileage on the floor and in VIP. It was unrealistic to expect that its business would just be taken up by another club with the same levels of service, but then you got vivide. Not nearly the same level as I can tell, but you got a new club in the market that quickly became a top 3 club for the area from what I can tell from the reviews. Anyway, I think the Atlanta changes would’ve been the same once Follies closed, covid or not.

@nice and shailynn - in addition to mental state, I’d also add extra cash in the pockets of customers whose entertainment cash stockpiled during the lockdowns and stimulus payments. More cash in the pockets doesn’t wind up in savings, it winds up buying fun. Just look at how it affected car purchases.

I popped in the club today to see my favorite and made some observations while I munched my lunch.

First, it was like a greatest hits parade of Gen X strippers, some of whom I hadn't seen since pre covid. Especially for a Friday the average age was high.

With a couple bright spots, overall there just are a lack of Hot Young Strippers, and there really is a gap of the girls who would currently be the 2 year veterans. There's just a gap right now of the girls who would have started 1-2 years ago.

Butterfaces: lockdown pounds are mostly gone. But holy shit, girls, especially latinas, need to stop with the injectibles in their faces. And there were a couple young dancers with slamming bodies and not so cute faces.

The Hottest Girl in the Club who was new to me never made it on stage and was constantly in VIP.

So the Old Dancers are fully back, but there really still is a gap where the 1-2 year vets should be.

We need to set up new clubs along the Private Party / Membership Model.

That gets us around all zoning and labor laws, and around the law against public sex and lewd conduct. It is using the legal compliance model pioneered by Swingers Clubs.

So anything goes Front Room and Back Room. It is all just between you and the girl.

SJG

^^ I think it depends on the night, I am the ‘greatest’ of the greatest hits 😎 but I definitely see young girls wherever I go.

Shailynn said, PSD didn’t skip a beat with Covid. Well, no. I got a job at Walmart, because I didn’t want to blow through my savings, and because iI knew it wouldn’t close. My job was receiving, I started work at 3 am and I offloaded the trucks every day. I am 5 feet tall and it was VERY intense manual labor with a lot of lifting. I am a licensed nail tech and I love having my nails done, I had to take them off for the first time in 10+ years.

I went to Huntsville twice during summer of 2020, both times I lost money on the trip because there was no one spending and I still had to pay for gas, lodging, house, etc. I also went to St. Louis when it was Hustler’s Outdoor Tent Cabaret, I am anemic and I couldn’t be outside even with a coat on because I was freezing. I tried OF but it just was NOT for me. I started working in a nail salon as soon as they opened again and got back on my feet a little until I felt ok to go to a club again. I worked 4 days in the salon, I got off work and drove 4 hours straight to St Louis, worked 3 days in the club and on the next morning got up at 6 to drive back home and make it to my salon shift by noon. Did that for 6 long weeks, then I went back to Seattle and I had the absolute best and most fun and successful summer and fall last year, worked in the club 4 days and salon 3 days.

So if that sounds like the normal life of the lazy stripper, I guess I ‘didn’t skip a beat’ lol.

I don’t believe in claiming unemployment, I think the patriotic thing to be is someone who does their part and I worked pretty hard since Covid. It has definitely been a hardship and I am very grateful for my health and extremely grateful that last year was a successful one for me.

I am very hopeful that this stupid war isn’t going to cause any ripple in the club environment because I am about to start grinding hard again (pun intended??) and I am looking forward to a great year!

If the stock market keeps turtling due to Russian sabre rattling and rising energy prices you can bet clubs will be affected

The stock market is being affected by inflation and the actions of the fed; not bc of Russia

I always notice that the club environment correlates with the stock market, it is wild. I want it to stop lol.

There's nothing like looking at your investments and seeing how they have risen to make you feel like treating yourself to a good time at the club

I love that for you lol 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼❤️❤️❤️

Unfortunately I'm not feeling that way at the moment
😪

So this is my perspective, and it's worth exactly as much as you paid for it. :)

Of the 4 dancers who I had contact info for right before covid, and would try to see, 2 moved to Florida sometime in 2020. The other two must have gotten new phone numbers/dropped their work phones. One of these was a girl I had seen often and I'm pretty certain she has stopped stripping.

As far as the two clubs I visited most frequently pre covid, there was a noticeable drop off in PL activity and frankly also the hotness level of the dancers. One of these clubs always had at least a half dozen girls who were solid 8+ and gave quality dances. On all of my visits in 2021, I literally saw one girl who I wanted to get LDs with and she was occupied the entire evening. Also, this club would always do a "feature" several times every night, where all the dancers would walk across the stage and then try to sell dances. The PLs got to see them all. I haven't seen them do this since they reopened after covid.
The other of these two clubs, I noticed the same thing although it does seem to be picking up recently. But. The dancers are setting their own prices and there is much much more air dancing going on. Also, the girls will come out of the back of the club, go on stage for their turn, and then go sit with one PL, there's almost zero circulation whereas that used to be a routine thing.

I feel like mileage has gone up everywhere I've been anytime recently.

Everywhere I've been recently has gone downhill overall. I am not saying that there is no money or that there are not certain girls making out well. I am saying that overall like as a whole I think it's worse than ever before. That being said, yes girls who got some things going for them will always make money. Or if a girl wants to be high mileage or doing extras sure that is always money too.

Clubs charge girls more now than ever before to work. A lot of these dance or vip price increases are just to give the club more money per sale. The increases tend to not go to the girl.

I feel like customers dont spend as easily/readily as they used to and no I didnt magically get ugly LOL. but also i think maybe that is me not being in good club locations lol. Oh well.

What timetable are you talking about blah?

I'm sure 2022 has been trash thanks to the stock market and crypto being in the shitter.

Home prices are up but I bet that money rarely gets pulled out into dancer pockets.

The Maryland SC scene was decimated by COVID and still hasnt fully recovered. Clubs were closed for months, some closed for good. Reviews of MD clubs on this site are drastically reduced from before, The few reviews that exist are not very positive, and indicate a lack of talent.

My club shut down for an entire year, but was fortunate enough to reopen. While it was closed, it got a shiny, new face-lift and of course, there have been staffing and price changes. These things would've happened anyway but more gradually.
So, as one would imagine, I've had lots of conversations regarding the before and after times. It boils down to being mostly just observational- not really good or bad. But, I would say that if you don't notice a difference at all wherever you are, that's probably a great/lucky thing!