The Decline Of…

I never really used Amazon prior to Covid, but now I literally buy everything except groceries on Amazon/Prime. I am typically a slow adapter, so if there’s a trend back into physical stores, I’m late to the party.

Another trend for me is travel. I now have about 500,000 miles in my JetBlue mosaic account (mostly thanks to all those online purchases, lol), but hotel prices in the places I would want to go are so grossly overpriced, I’m reluctant to travel anywhere. I know hotels are trying to recover the $ they lost during the pandemic, but locally, crappy motels in the Florida Keys are charging $750 per night - and people are paying it!

Another post recently covered the insanity around used and new car prices.

For me, I have not been in a strip club since COVID. But that’s more a function of me moving away from the Detroit clubs to the wasteland of Dayton/Cincinnati/Columbus.

I miss clubs, but nothing compelling in the area has made me go out

I’m surprised to hear online sales are down. Do grocery stores count? Because it seems grocery pick up is still gaining momentum. I still shop inside. Even though some of the incentive deals Kroger is offering makes it tempting to just let someone else shop for.

After the COVID reopenings, I go to clubs less where I live because the girls I like the most I still see OTC.

But I traveled a bit in 2022 and still enjoy clubs when there's stuff that's "new" to enjoy. I'm trying to think of reasons to go back to a town or two I saw this year, but there's a reason I'd never been there in all my life before lol.

Strip club$ are often a fast-money-burn and probably as discretionary as it gets when it comes to spending - inflation has probably squeezed many people's discretionary spending, plus there may be some fear of what's to come w.r.t. the economy so some people may be holding back.

I live-alone and don't cook so I eat out a lot mostly out of convenience - I did notice a slowdown this year in many of the places I eat although it seems to have picked-up a bit as of late - I think the clubs will be affected the most if there is a recession and people start losing jobs (this may also scare people who still have a job).

Covid probably took a # of people out of the SC game both custies and dancers (lost interest/habit etc) - the more popular clubs seem to be doing well but some of the smaller clibs seem to have had a harder time getting back ti pre-Covid levels (although my info is a bit dated since I haven't clubbed in 2022 - but I still peruse the daily-reviews and a good # of clubs are not getting as many reviews as pre-Covid).

Post-pandemic it seems prices have gone up in certain clubs which may be keeping some PLs home.

The economy has been going sideways for a while and so the SC scene overall IMO - and if there's a bigger downturn in the economy the clubs overall will likely follow suit.

A trend I see that has changed is the movement of people back into the cities. There was a big exodus out of the cities starting in the late sixties as big city crime exploded. This lasted until the nineties when various police and court reforms took place and crime started dropping. New York City led the way on this.

Once the cities became safer, people started moving back into them. With recent big increases in crime, this trend has now reversed. People are now moving out of the cities again. The trend to telework, which was accelerated during the Covid epidemic, also makes it easier to live far away from urban workplaces. In Indianapolis I'm seeing the strip clubs become more ghettoish as the middle-class customer base moves away. Less money is being spent in the strip clubs and that then results in a decline in stripper quality. Pretty girls have options and being a stripper is not as desirable of an option as it was previously.

I guess, in a way, my approach to stip clubs has similarities to my approach to restaurants. If a restaurant has two or three main dishes that I really like, I consider it great. I'll frequent a restaurant if it has one main dish I really like. If I find a few or even one fav at a club, I could care less how many scammy or jerky or unattractive-to-me dancers are at the club.

Eh, probably whatever us millennials have set our sights on killing reddit.com

Disposable income is tight with most folks due to inflation. I can see strip clubbers taking a break, especially if they felt they have been ROBed or are not getting any value out of their SC experiences. I think inflation will get worse before it is under control.

Amazon is shutting down warehouses and cancelling the building of many new warehouses due to decreased consumer demand. I think people are just being more frugal whether they shop online or in physical stores.

I think people are traveling less. Flights have gotten very expensive and hotels are ridiculous compared to pre-COVID. I go to a certain event in Missouri every year. In 2022, the hotel was 150/night. For next year, the same hotel wants 220/night, and that is booking four months ahead. Even if you drive, it is expensive. Gasoline is over $4.50/gallon where I live. Luckily, I get my kicks while traveling for work. My job pays for the travel costs. I only have to pay for beer and bitches.

Movie theaters are dying. There is an insane amount of high quality content you can stream from home for less than the cost of a movie ticket.

I used to eat at full service restaurants alot, think Texas Roadhouse and Red Lobster. To save money, I do more fast casual restaurants like Qdoba, Panera Bread, Au Bon Pain, and Boston Market, so I can cut out the tipping.

^ for your sake you better hope they don’t kill Olive Garden.

People don't have money. My bills are 3 times higher than. Pre covid. I treat clubs like I would civvie clubs. Talent is so bad and clubs are being run like clip joints.

Is this one of those "millennials killed ____" arguments?

With inflation eating into expenses, I'm more conscious about how I spend. Haven't made intentional sacrifices, but monitoring it more closely means I do less of it.

Independent of inflation, I travel a lot less. Not only has travel (flights, hotels, rental cars) gone way up in price but delays and general shittiness of US air travel have made it less fun.

Movie theaters are dying on the vine.

Customer service in general is definitely declining.

Mail services. Takes longer. Costs more. Packages get lost more often. Packages get damaged more often. Delivery guarantees fall short of being actual guarantees.

One the road… out in the middle of nowhere - went into an iHop yesterday at 5:15 - who doesn’t like eggs for dinner?

ONLY CUSTOMER in the entire restaurant.

There goes my earlier statement of people dining out more.

“Movie theaters are dying on the vine”

Honestly, I’m not sure the last time I went to a theater. Quality content is a big reason - I’m not into the MCU films - but still, no reason with all the streaming content.

Last movie was probably “Unstoppable” the Denzel on a train movie. Saw it on vacation in 2010 or 2011

I used to go out to Delis all the time, I don't do that no more. I mean a hero now adays is closer to $15 than $10. Pretty soon it's gonna be $20. Fuck that, I'll make this shit myself.

As far as right now. I really went on a balls out adventure all over America this past summer so right now it's bear down time. I'm hibernating right now. I'm still fucking with seeking but only if I can meet up with a girl who's just my type.

I'm also getting ready to get another car here soon, so I'm building funds for that. I was looking at a newer Accord it's a great car but they've been getting hit with those cat converter thefts more than any other car out there.

^ new car! Oh boy somewhere new for Muddy to sleep!!! You just need to dream bigger and get a Winnebago. See you didn’t know you have more in common with SJG than you even realized.

I eat out less because food quality has gone down hill. I don't go to sandwich shops at all anymore. I can make my own sandwich for less than $16. Thai and Chinese places are crazy. Thinking people will pay $20 for fried rice.

I eat less meat coz Uta expensive and no one buys it so it sits in yhe store too long and quality is atrocious.

Customer service has gone down every where.

I miss movie theaters. I haven't been since late 2019. It was always expensive but I miss the experience.

This is what I'm driving right now. It's been tough for me to pick up girls to say the least. julianvasquezheilig.files.wordpress.com

^ I don’t get it? Rick Dugan drives the same thing only in tan and he gets mad pussy. Must be because he lets the girls drive sometimes, just ask nicespice.