Is the traffic and the strip clubs a lot more crowded where you live at?
I saw the worst traffic in the small town I live in last Friday. Lots of constructions going on around town. I visited 3 strip clubs on the weekend and they were all getting crowded. In fact the last one at Platinum Plus in Greenville, I almost had trouble finding an empty seat even though it was after 2 AM. I hardly ever remember it being so crowded. I think a bachelor party group took up one whole corner of the club so maybe it was unusual. Then one dancer told me it was more crowded on Friday night.
Are things this busy in the rest of the country? I know business at work is picking up but not back to the way it was early last year yet. Maybe South Carolina is doing better than other places so far. I read today the state budget was only short around 17 million out of a several billion dollar budget so they call that pretty much right on the money. I don't believe the mortgage problem is as bad here but I'm not sure. I don't believe our economy and house prices ever went up like crazy either here so maybe not very many people tried to make money on houses in the carolinas. I'm not sure about that either but I'm seeing the opposite of a recession. Clubs getting crowded, more traffic, more construction. How's it like where you're at?
Are things this busy in the rest of the country? I know business at work is picking up but not back to the way it was early last year yet. Maybe South Carolina is doing better than other places so far. I read today the state budget was only short around 17 million out of a several billion dollar budget so they call that pretty much right on the money. I don't believe the mortgage problem is as bad here but I'm not sure. I don't believe our economy and house prices ever went up like crazy either here so maybe not very many people tried to make money on houses in the carolinas. I'm not sure about that either but I'm seeing the opposite of a recession. Clubs getting crowded, more traffic, more construction. How's it like where you're at?
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Over the years, dancers have told me that the end of the post-Christmas slump is when employed workers get tax refunds. As I understand it, the IRS was late in getting the tax forms out this year due to last-minute changes in the alternative minimum tax. The 2007 tax forms/instructions were supposed to come out during the first week of February, so electronic filers should be getting refunds in a couple of weeks. I'll be interested in seeing if that causes things to perk up...also interested in seeing how much of the "stimulus" ends up being truly "stimulating" by being spent in sc's. I won't be getting one myself, but if I did, it would go to stimulate the Mexican economy.
So what I've noticed is customer traffic relatively high in certain clubs but few buying dancers, so the clubs seem to be doing minimally OK but the dancers taking the hit.
A lot of the dancers seem to be working more days and more hours because the money is down, but this is just self-defeating. Aren't you noticing that your favourite club seems to have more dancers that it did a few years ago ?
Sometimes, I wonder if strip club attendance isn't just plain randomness, because I could do the same itinerary this Saturday, and about half the people would be at those two places.
The scenario: Club A has 2 tier pricing system & has for a long time. Dances are $10 more expensive at night, with VIP 3 songers being $20 more expensive night vs day.
Meanwhile, Club B has same prices day or night. The point isn't to make an apples to apples comparison, because there are some differences in mileage, privacy tradeoffs. Bottom line- Club A dances for most of recent history were $10- $20 more than Club B for same type of dance. I won't go into VIP differences here. Despite differences, Club A generally had twice the number of dancers or more on night shift vs. day shift.
Now, in the past yr, Club A has jacked up the prices by $1 per dance. So, $30 & $40 topless dances are now $31 & $41, resp. I think that act, coupled with higher price diff. has caused a drop in night shift patronage. A perusal of club website shows an average of 9.6 dancers on day shift, 13.4 on night shift. (I didn't factor in the 1-3 dancers on swing shift, they can pad both shifts counts).That is a 1.4:1 night/day ratio. Club B's most recent hotline has 10 dancers on dayshift, 26 on night, a 2.6:1 ratio. Callls on other dates have yielded roughly similar ratios, and I suspect, is more in line with most other clubs(eg, having twice the number , or more, on night shift vs day shift.
My observations about construction in my area are that new high-end new housing construction has slowed considerably, but more moderately priced stuff is still being built and remodeling is booming. Nonresidential construction also seems to be doing very well. A huge new mixed-use development (housing, retail, offices) is just getting underway near me. Highway construction is also booming in my area - there are major projects everywhere.
I recently completed a trip on our interstate highway system and the number of trucks on the road, which I've found to be an accurate indicator of current economic strength, seemed to be about normal. I also noted in this morning's paper that January retail sales had rebounded from December's weakness.
One funny sidelight to that trip - I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and the 3 young girls behind the counter were talking about an upcoming visit to a local strip club. One of the girls (the best looking one) was asking everyone in the store if they knew the age requirement for the club - she wanted to go with her friends but wasn't yet 21. Not the conversation one expects over breakfast. But it put a smile on my face.
I think I'm going to stay home for awhile so I won't know if the clubs are crowded anymore or not.