Mom & Pop strip clubs and interactions with their owners

Muddy
USA
You see a lot of the chain strip clubs out there, (the Seattle guys bitch about this alot) and maybe they have franchisee owners I don't know how it works but that really ain't the same thing. What have been some of your experiences if any, with the owners privately run strip clubs, where they call all the shots. Huge fucking dickheads? Cool dudes? I'm sure a lot of times I've been to clubs the bartender is running is the show is the whole kit and kaboodle, manager, bouncer, bartender, owner,


I used to hang at in Red Parrot in Texas. (Historically awesome strip club) The owner Darius Belcher, his brother Kevin Belcher played for the New York Giants in the 80's. You wouldn't even know this guy was the owner. Just some chill black dude at the bar all the time, when dancers would tell me at first that guy is the owner I said oh really. You kind of tell of much of dick head somebody is by how fearful or laid back those around him are, and nobody was at all, everyone carried on with business as usual fucking all out in the open, regular stuff.

I've seen Joe Redner at Mons and I was thinking to myself we have TOTALLY different tastes in girls, anorexia should not promoted.

I saw Alan Markowitz at Flight Club. I was talking to a dancer while he was walking around I was making fun of his mustache to her and she did NOT want to go down that road, AT ALL. She look frightened to go there and changed the subject. He definitely had presence, you could tell he owned the joint.

I ran into Danny Filippone the owner of Penthouse in Vancouver. Family's had the joint since the '40's, probably would make it the oldest in North America. All these celebrities from back in the day, they were selling a book on the history, "Liquor, Lust and the Law" I was actually drunk enough to buy it for $20, but he was pretty cool dude and signed it at the bar. (is it disrespectful to be reading a book at the tip rail? probably but fuck it) He's big on having those crazy marquees with jokes on them.

At Billy Dean's showtime Cafe in Bellmore, Long Island. This is the closest strip club to where I grew up. The owner is the namesake Billy Dean, he's like some former male dancer or some shit. Anyway at the bar, he's the bartender when your get a drinking, nicest guy, and he'll come out from behind the bar at the stage and yell "How's everyone doing tonight?!?! And the crowd responds with "YEAAAAAHHHH!" But he's Jekyll and Hydish I've seen this dude chew out loudly his bouncers in front of everybody and he's interrupted dances I've down by pulling back the curtain, hey maybe yell in times up??? Somebody has to tell this dude he's doing waaaay too much and needs to fall the fuck back.


Would love to hear some owner interactions out there from y'all, be it good or bad.

12 comments

Latest

twentyfive
a year ago
Not really a lot of mom and pop businesses these days, it’s just too hard to run a small business in these times, nowadays you need to grow big or get wiped out.

I grew up in the area near where Billy Deans is now back then it was the Newbridge Inn and was pretty much a neighborhood bar, and they serves pretty good Italian food and pizza, I left the area long before the place became Billy Deans, but we used to get beer there before we were old enough to drink.
DandyDan
a year ago
At one club I used to regularly visit (since closed), it was often the owner you paid your cover to to get in. He never seemed like a bad guy to me, but you have a conversation with him and he could be critical of some of the girls.

A different owner I knew, also for a closed down club, seemed like the biggest horse's ass I ever met, which may account for why his club fell off a cliff and possibly why he died. (I always assumed he committed suicide, but I don't know and lost contact with all the dancers I knew there who would know.)
motorhead
a year ago
I saw Redner at the MV once. I wish I had a chance to talk to him. Seems like a regular guy. Came in wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Went to the back grabbed a cookie or a brownie in the dressing room and came back out to just chill for a bit.

The owner of the Hip Hugger in Kokomo IN doesn’t look like your stereotypical club owner either. Only just ever exchanged “hello” with him. The dancers seemed to like him.

There was a small club out in the middle of no where in Michigan that got shut down for prostitution. I only ever went there once - never even offered a dance. You definitely needed to be a regular. The owner supposedly was a woman but the word on the street was the money came from Chicago mobsters. I always thought it odd that a club that got busted for prostitution was run by a woman

skibum609
a year ago
Club Desire is family owned and Gerard and his Mom are always there. Club Fantasies is also family owned. Before it failed under Frank Jr., Frank senior ran it and he was simply an arrogant fucking dick, who treated the customers poorly. One day, in the illegal nude room upstairs at the old Dean Street location I got to see Frank Senior grovel to a customer. The customer says go give my cousin $20 in ones to tip at the stage. Frank gets 20 singles out of the register and goes to the cousin and hands them over. The customer says make me a drink and Frank does. I am loving it, but also wondering who the fuck this customer must be. I finally turned to him say hello and my name and stuck out my hand. He introduces himself by his nickname, Junior. Buys me a beer. I buy him one and he asks me to call him John. I finally ask him about Frank's demeanor, and he laughs and says: "I'm in Real Estate, so Franks not afraid of me, but he is very afraid of my Father". Pre smart phone days, so it takes me awhile to realize that Junior is the son of John......Gotti.
gammanu95
a year ago
Funny thing about the boomer generation around the Great Lakes and their mustaches. If a guy has one, you do not insult the mustache. Say whatever you want about him, his wife, his ancestors, but leave the mustache alone.
motorhead
a year ago
I’ve never seen Alan at the Flight Club but I’ve seen enough photos I’m sure I’d recognize him. He does have that sleazy look to him….he’s straight out of Hollywood central casting for a strip club owner
jackslash
a year ago
I used to see Alan Markovitz all the time at the Flight Club and sometimes at the Penthouse Club. He wore a pimp mustache, looked unhappy, and had a strange face. His face had been reconstructed through plastic surgery after a cop shot him outside the Flight Club. The dancers had to be careful around him. He was known for firing dancers if he didn't like their looks.
gammanu95
a year ago
^why did he get shot by a cop?
skibum609
a year ago
I used to have a mustache, but a stripper made me shave it. Stripper: I can tell what you do for work just by looking at your face! Me: What do I do for work? Stripper: You're either a cop or a firefighter! Me: Why do you say that? Stripper: Because all you cops and firefighters have that same cheesy 70's mustache. I grew a full beard to go with it.
JamesSD
a year ago
Cheetahs in San Diego is independently owned. The owner comes in occasionally, always dressed as if he's about to golf or play softball. He mostly talks to the club manager and doesn't linger. We passed in the bathroom once and he was polite.
jackslash
a year ago
Alan Markovitz was shot by an off-duty copy who had been thrown out of the Flight Club. He was also shot by a dancer who he had fired at another of his clubs.

I once thought I would like to own a strip club. But now I realize I was more suited to the boring office jobs I held for most of my career.
shadowcat
a year ago
Now this is what I call a family business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXdmBQBo…
You must be a member to leave a comment.Join Now
Got something to say?
Start your own discussion