Manager Turnover

I'd think it's weird.

I'm used to clubs that have had the same manager for forever.

If they get replaced it has to be for something big like stealing money. Doing shit that could get their business license pulled.

I know one manager got fired for stealing money to pay his gambling debts.

Maybe you have an ownership problem if the same managers are constantly rotating through the same clubs. In other industries I've seen owners hire-fire-rehire some absolute idiots because those were the only people willing to work for the owner.

That was a combination of low pay and limited talent pools in rural PA which I presume to be very different from Portland.

As a customer I don't tend to notice the managers unless they become problematic by cracking down on rules that others let slide at the same club or girls start avoiding working on his shifts because of how he runs things. I imagine this is a much more noticeable issue for dancers, bartenders and other staff than it is for customers.

I can think of a number of reasons a newer strip club manager wouldn't stick around for long and the drama and low pay you mentioned are at the top of the list. I also imagine a lot of guys go in thinking it will be glamorous and it will involve them gucking dancers before reality sets in. There are probably some of the same stigmas that dancers face (but to a lesser extent) when their family and friends find out about their new job.

Actually, the weird thing is I've seen shitass managers at the same clubs for forever. In this case with portland, apparently good managers at clubs I used to work at seem to have left 😬

I don’t really notice manager turnover, as most of the time it doesn’t affect me. If there are frequent changes in club ownership, it’s possible that will lead to more manager turn over.

With new owners, it seems they think they can do better with a change in manager. I don’t know if that change really helps.

I have known two managers in my years of club patronage. One guy was really good, and he worked hard to attract features and keep the club up to date with parties and promotions (he was a manager for a long time - until he encountered health issues). The other manager wasn’t so good - but the club was in an odd location - and he didn’t last long.

If owners keep firing managers - and bringing in new managers - they might be trying to find that special sauce - or rainmaker - that gets the club going. Many times that just leads to high turnover and no results.

If they were good maybe they just didn't want to deal with the shit ownership or got fired for not being sleazy assholes

I notive manager turnover. It's just rare from what I've seen

Management stays very consistent in the clubs around here, which are family owned, not corporate clubs.

Ye like I am seeing good non sleazy mgrs seem to be leaving for whatever reason in the portland area. I don't mean like every club, but this is definitely noticeable

They don't match the company culture. Maybe they get fed up or refuse to do sleazy shit. Nowadays clubs just want to profit as fast as possible. No matter what goes on. And they need cutthroat assholes for that

Like others said, I don't directly notice it. I've only really noticed it at one club and I'm not sure the reason. I noticed different managers because I noticed changes in policies, operations, and dancers. I don't know if there was changes above the shift manager that were making the changes and changing shift managers was just part of their changes. Or if the managers left on their own and the incoming ones made the changes, etc. I just know I'd go in that place every couple of months and lots of little things would be significantly different, including the manager.

I probably also don't know who is a shift manager, a bar manager, a floor host, etc in a lot of cases too. So when I see a guy at one club for a while, then see him at another one I don't know if a floor host left one club to be a shift manager, or if a shift manager left to be a general manager elsewhere. Or I suppose it could go the other direction, where they get fired as a floor manager and have to take a spot as a floor host or whatever.

What defines a good manager is probably subject to heavy influence of perspective too. For example, I like that the managers at Cheetah Pompano do things like ensure a girl remains on the stage dancing until the next girl arrives. I like that they keep the clothed/topless/nude thing going. I like that they have girls when they open and towards the end of the shift. I'd bet many if not most dancers don't so much like those things, as they'd like to have more autonomy to do as they please. Whether a GM or owner likes them probably depends on their stance on those things, or if they are bit more hands off then it may depend on the financial success of the club as it operates that way. There's probably some standouts that are either terrible or excellent and manage to please or piss off the dancers, the customers, and the owners the majority of the time, but my guess they're basically always bad or good depending on perspective.

We’re living in strange times, clubs that were once moneymachines aren’t doing well enough or at least aren’t meeting expectations, just like a sports team it’s impossible to get rid of all the players it’s easier to bring in new management to shake things up, try to get back to profitability. Eventually this will shake out and the industry will reorder figure out what works and the turnover will go back to normal

I also don't know shit about the pay for any of the manager types at clubs.

I think the question is why is there a lot of turnover?

Obviously if ownership treats management like shit it can be a flag. Portland is probably weird because I assume there is ample opportunity to move up by moving out.

I think on the monger side of things consistent management is sometimes good for mileage. If girls know if they get caught sucking dick in VIP they will get sent home early and maybe banned for a week then allowed to return, it keeps mileage higher. But I can also envision situations where the managers are consistent hard asses.

Given the "quality" of strip club owners I've met here in Louisville, I would suspect that good managers can't stand working for them and move on quickly, staying only long enough to secure a better job.

I doubt it's the pay. Between their wage and tipout they make a lot

===> "What do you all think of clubs with high manager turnover?"

I don't think of it at all unless it affects my experiences directly, like the adoption of new more onerous policies.

One of my regular clubs has had the same two daytime managers there since I started going there. One is very friendly, the other seems like a hard ass dick. It appears they recently hired a new manager as well. I’m not sure if he is going to replace one of the current managers or not but he seems to be an overall pleasant person as well so hopefully they get rid of the one with the attitude problem. It’s also possible the one I don’t care for could be the owner, I’m not 100% sure.

A lot of our Indiana strip clubs have high manager turn over. This means whatever experience a manager accumulates is lost as he is quickly replaced. For example, one local club has tried the experiment of letting the dancers charge what they want four times. It fails every time. Dancers think the more they charge the more they make and don't consider customers might decide prices are too high and stop coming in. When it fails, the club drops it and goes back to charging set lap dance prices. However, the same experiment is tried a couple years later because the manager who found out it didn't work has been replaced by a new guy who then tries it again.

Over the years, I can count the number of interactions I have had with a club manager on one hand. I"m not sure I would notice if a club got a new one. The only thing I would care about is if the club can attract quality girls. Does the manager influence that ? Probably, but I dont' directly see that.

IMO when a manager is doing his job right, he is rarely seen and heard even less. IMO his day-to-day job is to keep hot girls flowing into the club, prevent excess stripper drama from spilling onto the floor and otherwise quietly keep operations flowing smoothly. This should just about all be from behind the scenes. Beyond that he should just let nature take its course (within club boundaries of course). Where there are hot girls and beer, dudes will come.

IME most managers don't have much control over things like LD/VIP prices, drink prices, cover charges, etc. Those decisions most often come from ownership.

Almost every time I've seen a club go to shit due to manager incompetence, it was because he overcomplicated things and made himself part of the show. When the girls don't want to work for a guy because he's a dick, they usually have lots of other choices nearby. They also don't respond to calls when a a roster is short staffed and the manager is trying to convince them to help out. IMO good managers are able to find that sweet spot where they're not letting the inmates run the asylum, yet they don't make working for them feel onerous.

What are the strip club owners like gmd? Usually crooks? Money launderers? Or regular business owners

Little Desert Turd Blossom more than anyone else here enjoys being turned over by managers. LULZ

With the resignation wave that began during COVID, with everyone getting free money and paid to sit at home, hospitality, food service, and retail have been hit particularly hard. I get it, dealing with the public all day sucked long before the Chinese Communist Party made the whole world sick. When people finally emerged from their forced isolation, most of them had forgotten how to be civil and treat others; making foodservice, retail, and hospitality even more unbearable. This means that those positions are now staffed by the worst of the worst employees, and customers react to such shitty customer experiences as you would expect, and it's a downward spiral. Then, you add in the kind of labor pool and clientele that mostly frequents and works at strip clubs and you have the most grueling, thankless, experience imaginable.

I'm just guessing, of course, because I tend not to notice managers much. As a matter of fact, the few times I did notice managers they have not done anything to really improve the situation.

Managers enforce ownerships policies. But they dictate the dynamic of the club. The thing is for most it's a power trip and goes to their heads. And most are dysfunctional junkies. Especially when it comes to dives and independent clubs

I would think that if a club has high turnover right for managers, that would indicate that there is some kind of problem with ownership.

It's usually the manager that fucks up

I guess the worst thing about manager turnover is there will be people taking advantage of the lack of consistency. And people who have been at the club longer than the manager ready to use that to their advantage

I never was thrilled with the idea that a dancer gets to choose her price for dances. One thing I expect no matter where I spend my money is consistency in regards to price. Extras of course can be discussed later on but I like to know up front what I’m paying. And that includes cover, drink prices, parking etc.

Rickdugan it’s ironic you mentioned how one of the biggest mistakes managers make is getting over involved with the club. I know a guy that has been constantly doing that and can’t get his business off the ground

I guess mainly I got on here to bitch about that some good managers I liked working with are gone now around here. There is also some russian dbag that is slowly buying up 1 club after another in Portland and like all his clubs fucking suck with trash abusive customers and trash girls. Ughh!!!!

@blah I've come to like the Portland clubs that don't have dedicated managers. Like the bartender has management responsibility or the owner is doing the management directly. These tend to be less hustle and more friendly neighborhood type strip clubs.

And it seems that the strippers are more content and less disgruntled at those clubs too.

How much does a typical manager make? It seems like it can't be competitive with other management roles? Excepting fast food maybe?

^ depends on whether the owner is private or corporate, private ownership my guess would be salaries are all over the place, corporate ownership they’d have a formal agreement with specific measurable benchmarks and corresponding salary and benefits

From what I know sc managers make between 34k to 80k a year. Corporate clubs aren't bad places to work. But keep in mind managers also get tipped out every night. That adds up.

I met a bouncer/vip host at one club that claimed he used to be a store manager of a Walgreens before. And made way more money at the club. And this was a club that officially had a no tip policy. (But I think the club offered bonuses to staff anyways, no doubt funded by the club’s fairly high dance/room cuts)

I’m unsure of the answer regarding another question - so I’ll ask here.

What is the minimum amount of time a manager can be working in order to have an affect on the club (positive or negative)?

I know - if a manager takes over at an extras club and stops dancers from performing extras - that can kill things pretty quickly.

This is more along the lines of reasonable changes from a manager. Maybe using social media more? Adding themed party nights. Hiring some girls that he determines to be an improvement (likely girls he thinks are hot). Bring in a better - different - DJ?

Would it be a 3 month type of deal to see if a change in manager will have a positive effect on the overall club? A one to two month trial period seems too short - but maybe that’s what owners want?

^ Common sense would say it depends on the level of experience the manager has, it would depend on what the problem is and how long it’s been ongoing, and how much cooperation he/she can get from the employees and the owner.

Thanks Twentyfive. That makes sense. It basically varies based on what the owners are trying to accomplish.

===> "What is the minimum amount of time a manager can be working in order to have an affect on the club (positive or negative)?"

Negative - not too long IMO and IME.

Positive - potentially many months or longer, depending on all of the factors 25 said. Especially once a place develops a bad local rep for being dangerous and/or putting pigs and fuglies on stage. I've seen it happen twice with two small local clubs and in each case it took a year or more.

Each time I witnessed it, they first made the club safer by implementing tighter security at the door and, when necessary, on the floor. This is the quicker fix though. Once you make the place safe for old men to spend their money in, then it is always and forever about the girls.

The problem then becomes one of the chicken and the egg. Hot girls get impatient quickly when they struggle to make money in a club, but it's hard to bring good money in when you don't have them for a while. This is where a manager's real skill, or lack thereof, shines.

In each case I witnessed, the managers slowly built up the roster by making their clubs easier to work in than anywhere else. Easier to come and go, no drama or micromanagement, etc. Believe it or not, a certain % of girls will actually sacrifice a certain level of earnings for a place they feel appreciated and comfortable in. One of these clubs also beefed up their roster by serving as the place of last resort for hot girls who got fired from the other local clubs.

All of this of course came with a little more behind the scenes drama than some managers will tolerate. But when you're trying to overcome a bad rep and are competing against other clubs with strong talent and perhaps better facilities, you have to make some tradeoffs.

Then it is just a function of time. More guys come in and keep coming back because they like the scene. Customers follow their "last resort" dancers. Etc., etc.

What kinds of things have you seen dancers get fired for Rick? It seems the clubs where the club keeps a larger % of dance fees, or charges dancers to work, are more likely to hire uglier dancers, or criminals, or just not do any vetting when hiring and not fire dancers as much?
Whereas clubs that have minimal fees would vet the dancers more?

hahaha lol it is so easy to get fired at clubs and also hired that professionalism is hardly a thing. THe west coast is really fucking wack though because the whole west coast operates on scheduling dancers except for maybe like well under 5% of clubs that do the independent contractor thing. Note: I do not count Vegas or Phoenix as the west coast, that shit is inland and they do not belong to us.

Also, Portland clubs claim ur an independent contractor but all of them except for maybe 2? operate on a very strict schedule. Not only that but say you have a bitch fit 1 shift cuz it is slow, they will remember you forever and not let you come back. I found that out by calling a club I hadn't been in for over 6 months or maybe a year idk, and they literally knew who I was by the sound of my voice and told me not to come back lmfao!

Also bouncers bartenders etc exaggerate how much they make just as much as dancers do

^ the whole industry is full of bullshitters. Many of the customers are full of bullshit also. lmao. Gotta read between the lines and all. You gotta like act completely stupid then you kinda figure out what's what. Idk if that made any sense at all lmao

^^^it's an industry built on sex fantasies so the BS is inherent.

Most of the customers are delusional.

^^^especially the cosplay pimp/boyfriend types.

Icee you literally told someone to save up and buy what they can afford in a thread where they were asking about odd car lease deals like 18 months