discussion comment
12 years ago
On the interior itself it is possible to have a 10X at least range in what you can spend. If you go with the hardwood paneling, leather all over, designer furniure, and select artwork you are talking big bucks. You can spend a thousand dollars for a chair or less than two hundred or so. You can spend three hundred dollars on a side table or ten.
On the other extreme you could try to get away with painting everything black, buying a prefab stage and some folding chairs. You might not get occupancy approval though.
I think that the sweet spot that you are looking for in terms of cost/benefit is a 'clean and comfortable dive'. Paint it a dark color but not black get some nice laminate flooring (which will last better than carpet or vinyl) and the rest of the fixtures and furnishings you can franky get from IKEA just fine.
One thing most clubs overspend on is TV screens. You have live entertainment, don't act like it isn't good enough. Get ONE good LCD projector and a screen for really big sports events (superbowl etc.) and let your entertainers be the entertainment. Some small TV screens functioning as electronic signage might be worth it.
On the sound and lighting you need good but not great. Don't try to put one massive set of speakers around the stage and make it loud enough to be heard everywhere. Be willing to put satellite speakers in the lapdance and VIP rooms rather than blasting the stage speakers super loud.
For lighting some a simple chain of DMX controlable multicolor LED stage lights and perhaps one effects unit (NOT STROBE)for variety. Do not bother with a typical club DJ turntable/mixer setup but just a PC running a show automation software including the DMX control.
discussion comment
12 years ago
Next is the example of building or fitting out a new space.
Start with some big picture topics
Step one is research, research, research the local conditions. One city may have placed a whole lot of conditions on what can go on in a club and where they can be located and the next, or unincorporated land, might have only a requirement that they be a certain distance apart. Either way you will need to have a conditional use permit even for a non-alcohol club. These things are not automatic. Before you sign a lease be sure that there is an escape clause if you can't get all of the necessary permits. There WILL be moral busybodies wanting to stop you. Get the temperature of those who will have to vote on your application.
Unless the building has in the past served as a bar or restaurant then a major factor in the build-out is plumbing. You will need customer restrooms, employee restrooms, and kitchen. So the decision to serve hot food vs. cold food vs. no food and the decision to serve full bar vs. beer/wine vs. soft drinks will affect costs. Another interesting decision is whether to include dishwasing facilities or not. A catering company will gladly deliver a fixed number of clean glasses/dishes/utensils and take away the dirty ones for a fee. That saves you the cost of the industrial dishwasher and plumbing for same.
Then there is your design professional. There are architects and designers who understand construction, bulding codes and how to design efficiently. Then there are decorators who understand only appearances. You want the former. If they arent in the latter then get a separate person for the furniture and finishes selection.
discussion comment
12 years ago
First let me take the example of buying an existing club. If it is a profitable club expect to pay the net asset value of the club's owned physical assets and then 3-5 times the net annual profits of the club.
Get audited records! Do not just take their word on it.
If it is not a profitable club then you will get it for little more than the net asset value, but you better have a realistic turn-around plan.
Also, do not presume that the conditional use permit of the club or the alcohol permit are transferable. Make the sale contingent on getting approval for the transfer of ownership of the licenses.
discussion comment
12 years ago
There is no specific test, but in general for an individual to be an independent contractor and not an employee there must be significant areas in which the person really is independent.
Now in California the state simply passed a law saying that in-club dancers had to be employees. And things went on. The biggest difference is that now you tend to pay the club for the dances. Often you pay the barkeep, sometimes you pay the bouncer at the entrance of the lap dance area and some of the DV clubs have the automated timer poles you feed the bills into.
In general the dancers are paid a minimum wage on a draw against commission. Typically this means minimum wage or 60 percent of what they sell in dances whichever is greater plus they declare what their stage and private dance tips were. (although I am sure that they typically ignore the latter).
discussion comment
12 years ago
Well, I did a whole series of articles on...Designing a perfect strip club. However I did not take it from the standpoint of cost being no object. Money is always a factor. Lately it has takes as much as a week to get new articles approved.
discussion comment
12 years ago
Interesting, xedin, you think that it isn't a question of unfamiliarity with the club but familiarity with the brand. The odd thing is that, having been to five of the DV clubs in LA that the clubs vary widely, far more than for example the SR clubs do.
discussion comment
12 years ago
The thing is, if she fits the bill physically 'wanna dance' may be all that is necessary. So that is all that they think they need to try Now in borderline cases and slow nights it may take more.
1. Eye contact and smile. Do something to get face-to-face level with him rather than towering over him bow, squat, sit, etc.
2. lean in a little.
3. Make some contact, but don't immediately go for the Tijuana Handshake. Hand on shoulder, hand on arm, etc.
4. If you haven't convinced him in one or two songs, move along.
5. If there is a special coming up in the next song or two, mention it. If he doesn't agree to take you up on the special, move on.
6. This is a heavy artillery move...offer a shoulder rub. Then at the end of a few seconds of shoulder rub lean down and whisper in his ear what you will do in the VIP. Whispering is super sexy but in most clubs it is so loud that it is impossible without getting very close but the shoulder rub gimmick allows it.
7. If the shoulder rub doesn't do it say 'I hate shouting, can I come closer? If they say yes, the depending on the type of seat either sit on his lap or sit in contact with him on the bench and again whisper in hie ear.
And it should pretty much go without saying no glitter, minimal scent, fresh breath.
discussion comment
12 years ago
Why is any word offensive? Because we have decided that it is meant to degrade people's cruelly.
If there were no offensive words regarding women somebody wanting to be offensive would have to invent one. And they would.
discussion comment
12 years ago
I would go beyond simply saying that it is a sure thing. There are no games. None of the SS. No will they or won't they with you (within the limits of the parlor. If the parlor only offers HJ and not FS you aren't going to get FS, but neither will they entice you with a FS price and then not deliver.) There is also no pretense about this being an entertainment or a social setting. The women will talk with you but won't pretend to be flirting with you. It is a service. You are there to be physically pampered, they are providing the service of physically pampering you. No massage site is going to describe itself as 'the evocation of a culture'.
Now maybe you like the mind games. Maybe you like the social vibe and the flirting. Maybe you like to feel like you are being entertained rather than pampered.
discussion comment
12 years ago
Interesting, but I still get the impression that there is yet another factor.
It can't be just the downtown location because other downtown clubs (such as the SR, Sam's, and the DV location near Union Station, get visitors and reviews.
And I don't think that it is the DV name. Certainly the Industry location is much loved on the boards, but the North Hollywood and Union Station locations also get a regular share of reviews. Event the quite average Ontario and Hollywood locations do.
I still come back to wondering if there is a very difficult to break new club inertia. I may ask about that in a separate discussion.
discussion comment
12 years ago
The club was the new DV on Main in LA. Sure reviewers are a small portion of club patrons, but as I said other clubs were getting reviews during the same time.
The real question I guess is why is it apparently hard for a new club to draw customers (and thus reviews to it).
discussion comment
12 years ago
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Papi_ChuloMiami, FL (or the nearest big-booty club)
I think it would be a rare club that will let the waitresses give dances. After all, who would be selling the drinks which make the club money? And the dancers would be pissed regarding losing business.
I think you might have more success asking for OTC.
discussion comment
12 years ago
Most places that require either nudity or alcohol but not both the most popular places are the full nude ones. I'm not saying that you can't make money in those cities with a topless bar, but there is more traffic at the nude places.
discussion comment
12 years ago
In my opinion if you have to share it with others it is not a VIP room
discussion comment
12 years ago
yes, this basicly duplicates a study done several years ago in the US. I posted on it here.
So old news blokes.
discussion comment
12 years ago
Normal depends on if you are planning on throwing around enough money to get a stripper to ignore the rules and do extra for you.
The better advice is to use the reviews here to put together a budget based on what you are expecting to have happen, and then stick to the budget.
discussion comment
12 years ago
There is one generalization that I will make. Successful strippers hide their personal problems from the customer. You are not, as a customer, going to see whatever is their personal problems.
Also I will say that it is almost impossible to sort out cause and effect with them. Did stripping cause their personal issues or did their personal issues lead them to stripping?
discussion comment
12 years ago
And they keep saying that it is the gays that are undermining the sanctity of traditional marriage. The straights seem to be doing a fine job all by themselves.
discussion comment
12 years ago
I would have to point out that BBBJ from a disease standpoint is most likely the riskiest act performed in clubs (presuming that stories of BBFS and BBAnal are fake, or at least they ought to be). I certainly would not believe any SS that she is only doing this with you.
discussion comment
12 years ago
cloth napkins can be quite strong.
discussion comment
12 years ago
If a dancer were to ask how I learned about the club I would mention that I read about it on tuscl.net. If they asked if I wrote I would say occasionally but I am very discrete about names and details. I am just not very good at lying so I make a habit of not doing it.
Unfortunately there are people, not so much on this site, that really enjoy being nasty about a review.
discussion comment
12 years ago
There is no deep end to a strip club. The whole thing is based on shallow. It is not as though the dancers,waitresses, managers, etc are looking to understand the customers on some sort of a deep level either.
If we wanted to get to know people deeply we would go to some place like poetry readings or gallery openings where deep is the expectation.
discussion comment
12 years ago
First of all the guy's SO most likely does not know he has gone to a strip club and even less likely has given him detailed instructions about what to do when he is there.
Chances are he has made a moral bargain with himself..."I haven't really cheated if I just look at the girls on the stage; after all that isn't really any different than porn" and he is using his SO as a way of saying that it really isn't his choice.
Another possibility is that he is too broke to go to the VIP and is using the SO as an excuse to not admit that he is broke.
So, if they guy is using it as a cover for his being broke then there is nothing you can do...the dude is broke.
If it is a moral deal he has made for himself it may also be hopeless but you might be able to get him to make some other moral deal with himself. So you might say "the stage is just so distant, it is much more fun showing you up close. You know sometimes as a game I do a dance where we see how close I can get to you without ever touching." So the guy can make a deal with himself that says 'OK, it is still just looking, no touching'.
discussion comment
12 years ago
Trulia.com has an ability to do crime rate maps for most major urban areas. So I decided to zoom in and do a screen shot of the City of Industry, supposedly home to SoCal's highest mileage clubs. I took a screen shot and then added blue dots for the locations where the clubs are. I have uploaded the result to my pictures. At least for COI, there is no correlation at all.
discussion comment
12 years ago
First of all they keep on pointing out the addition of alcohol. I am guessing that was because they found no correlation about nonalcoholic clubs, which usually have greater nudity.
Which brings up the fact that if you bring a bunch of drunk guys into an ordinarily vacant industrial section of town you will have more crime...well duh.