what was so legendary about Follies?

I'm not sure of the specifically-cited reason - liquor violation, maybe? Whatever, because it doesn't really matter. They'll find something.

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.

Via Google.

https://www.ajc.com/news/chamblees-only-…

It was the gold standard because old farts like shadowcat could go in and bang a hot 19 year old for $40!!!!!!

^ lol

It wasn’t a lack of business that shut it down. Local government wanted it out and there was no shortage of infractions they could use to bury it. To their credit, the follies owners fought hard and fought for years, but if the government wants you shut down and you’re running a business that needs a liquor license and allows sex for money, even between consenting adults, you will eventually get steamrolled. RIP

Even if they'd *never* done anything wrong or illegal, they'd have eventually been shut down. If the government wants something shut down, they'll find a way, fair or foul.

thanks everyone for responding. I agree, the government can destroy any club using Lawfare alone. @Rod8432 was correct. Dying shopping centers are prime real estate. The area has already been sanctioned for commerce and is typically conveniently located. I personally don't care that much about alcohol, it's on the bottom of my list for strip clubs. However, I know most people care too much about casual drinking and it's become a staple of the club scene.

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.

It's the suburban cities surrounding Atlanta that are doing the most to shut down strip clubs.

Liquor license or some permit lapsed when they were closed for Covid. That was all the city needed. The white extras clubs in the northern suburbs of ATL all ran into a similar problem. For decades they were in low rent areas of the unincorporated county, and no one cared less about them. In the last 20 years or so, all that county land has become new cities that have incorporated. They want the clubs out because they are gentrifying the area.

One correction on rod's comments. The Gold Club was miles from Atlantic Station. I think he meant Lindbergh MARTA Station.

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/

@goldmongerATL, So what your saying is that the state (or is it the Atlanta Higher ups) want to use the land for expansion. Is there a concentrated effort to keep us "heathens" in the Atlanta city limits.

Yo momma! She was the best.

^perfect example of the most useless, crass, and stupid poster on the board. Go fuck yourself Icee.

^ no way you could possibly claim to smoke ghost train with all that angst and anger, tapping away all day on your device. Course they say if you don’t get the joke, then the joke is you! Lmfao….

^ Only a virgin, with no life experience, no friends, and who is hated by his entire family would be so ignorant and unsophisticated to not be able to understand that they are projecting their own miserable feelings, personality and life onto those superior to them Icee. If you look back, you will see we had the exact same conversation before.

Why not move locations? Just wondering why a place that is obviously solvent, but has gotten into the crosshairs of municipal development, civic organizations, or similar, can't just buy a new location further out from the perimeter? It seems to me that most of USA's big cities have a rust belt, which is often gentrifying, and outside of which will be either further rust / industrial belt, or simply green land. At least on SOME occasions, a strip club could simply build to suit at the next intersection out. I'm not saying this could have been the case for this club in particular, but is anyone familiar with this sort of move ever happening anywhere in general?

^^^Moving locations NEVER works.

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.

ww is correct. The city of Atlanta has a moratorium on liquor licenses for strip clubs and a juice bar could not compete.

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.

They are not necessarily looking to develop that exact property but want them out for the perceived negative effect on the surrounding area.

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.

@goldmonger, so in other words, closing down strip clubs doesn't actually effect the quality of the property. All it really does ia manipulate the perception of property.

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.