what was so legendary about Follies?
Owlyoung_ggofv
Southern Libertine
But here's the problem, if the club was good, why did it shut down? People were obviously patronizing the place regularly. It shut down before I was really into strip clubs , so anyone who's familiar can tell me.
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My unsubstantiated opinion - the larger pressure on some clubs is municipal development. Gold Club closed so Atlantic Station could built, with mixed-use housing, restaurants, refurbished Marta station, etc. Wasn't gonna happen with a strip club in the middle. Same for Mardi Gras, Flashers, Oasis, Follies, and more recently Fannie's.
Follies was located inside the Perimeter (I-285 that rings Atlanta), directly in front of encroaching development that's moving up Buford Hwy. Land is increasingly valuable, and get's more-so for developers when perceivably negative businesses are removed. A strip club in a small, old, and ugly building - especially one located across the street from a huge, but dying shopping plaza - has been in the crosshairs for a while. There's always some back-and-forth (a la Oasis), but eventually, money talks and the strip clubs walk.
https://www.ajc.com/news/chamblees-only-…
Technically, a club like Follies could exist in more isolated terrain. I am thinking something like Boomers is Harvest Alabama where to club is just a warehouse repurposed. I don't know enough about Atlanta city limits to know if that is permissable.
Gold Club were mob-owned and infamously shut down by the FBI. The building still stands today. Right now it is a dance club. https://www.goldroomatlanta.com/
For 1, you have to go through the process of obtaining licenses, which I would take to be more challenging today than yesteryear.
And then, you still wouldn’t recapture the nuances of what made the club endearing. Patrons, dancers and staff will just lament how it’s not the same. Which is valid cuz it’s never the same or better.
Best bet for a new location would be in unincorporated areas of the metro counties but then some damn city would annex the real estate and put them out of business like they did to Follies.
What has become of some locations per Google Street view:
Flashers - bulldozed and vacant lot for sale (like 6 years later)
Mardi Gras - bulldozed and vacant (2022 street view)
Dollhouse - bulldozed and vacant lot for sale (like 6 years later)
Follies - restaurant
Diamond not forced out, but owners sold. Building immediately bulldozed to put up an office building.
Shooters Alley - restaurant
Oasis - Vacant strip club sometimes used as a movie set.
Oasis is the only one where the neighborhood has "gone up" since they were run out. They were in front of a new mixed-use development.
Here's something you may not know about Huntsville. We have 2 strip clubs located right next to each other. Rocket City Showgirls and Uncle Bucks. They are located literally off of University Drive. Want to know what else is off University in that same vicinity , Research Park. RP is the location of most of the defense contractors and several other businesses.
Nobody has ever complained that strip clubs are so close to the city's premier business district. I just don't get why strip clubs are treated as such a Boogeyman.