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The economics of strip clubs.

TheRiddlerMan

Member
Jun 14, 2012
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Having read through the dancer fee poll and the discussion around it, I'd like to understand the strip club model better, and how people like me fit into it. As a quick background, I've been going to the clubs fairly often for about ten years, starting first with Barbarella's and then mostly spending time at the Barefax. I'm exclusively a daytime customer.

Based on conversations with strippers, this is how it seems to work:

- The dancers pay a fee to dance at the club, and in return have to do a set amount of stage dances per shift.
- The dancers are not employees of the club.
- The dancers make their money exclusively through private dances.
- The club does not take a cut from those private dances.
- The club makes its money from drinks and associated fees (cover charges at night, etc).
- The initial drink is a necessity before any strippers will come by the table - it's extremely rare to see this rule broken, if it is a rule.

So the clubs want us in there drinking, hopefully in groups, enjoying the stage dances and the strippers going by, staying for multiple rounds. They do not profit from the solo guy, sitting by himself in the corner nursing his drink as long as possible, only there for the private dances. In other words, they don't profit from people like me.

This model made more sense back when I was going to Barb's 7 or 8 years ago - they always had the convention crowd because of all the hotels nearby, so there were usually full tables full of people willing to spend good money on drinks. Barefax on the other hand is much more local - I see the same faces every time I go, and lots of fellow travelers sitting by themselves. I'm sure lots of them are drinking themselves into the ground, but I'm not the only one with a bottle of water (the massive markup on serving as a cover fee, as noted above). I don't really see the profit model there.

Also, I'm not clear on why the clubs have tolerated the increasing "mileage" in the CRs. Back when I first got into it there was plenty of touching but very little else. Now it's normal to be offered a lot more. I don't partake (the ick factor, health risks, etc), but if I wanted to it's all available. Not only are there legal issues, but I don't see how the club benefits from some guy spending big in the back rooms. Is it just a necessary evil, the only way to get guys in there at all in the days of Backpage and multiple local spas?
 

Nesbot

Well-known member
Jan 25, 2016
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Your last sentence is the answer. Strip clubs are doing the death spiral. They have been since the early days of backpage. They've been able to hang on with increasing prices to a ridiculous factor but it can't last forever. Most men don't want a tease when they can get the full deal for less money.
 

Jasmine Raine

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2014
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Remember that before BP there was CL and before that there was paper ads and TERB or even before TERB there was canbest and mailing groups. For as long as there have been hookers there have been dancers. There is a niche for everything. Good Ol' Captain Hugs & Kisses is a prime example of that. Yes he is a lone wolf who the club does not care about. Groups are where it is at for them as stated but I find that the SCs have morphed a bit in that it is club night on the weekends. Tons of regular guys and gays going to hang out at the SC instead of the dance club down the street. So while more mileage may be happening in some areas, more relaxed and less taboo environment is allowing for different demographics into the club.

Also the local club out here has shut down a night a month for a Magic Mike style Show for the ladies which draws huge crowds. I would encourage more clubs to do this. I have seen some revues in hotels because clubs refused to shut down for the guys to dance. I don't think those clubs realize that women spend more money and buy more expensive drinks which would benefit them.

As stated though, dancers are NOT club staff. They are private contractors. Think of street venders. They pay the city for their corner and work to make their own money. This is no different. The lady pays for a place to work from. Just like Escorts pay for hotels to work from. Nothing different. However, the club will want the best possible dancers working because they will loosen up the men and men will want to stay, will want more to drink etc.

I do think that clubs should be stricter about following the "rules" regarding touching. Dancers should be dancing, MPAs should only be doing HJ with body slides and FS should be left to escorts but most guys will always try to push for more and so you will have lines blurred.
 

Hungbob

Member
Jul 18, 2017
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Interesting topic.

I think the mileage issue is the easiest one to explain. There is no doubt that strip clubs are less popular versus other adult entertainment options. This means the girls are making less money. How does a stripper make more money, if they don't want to go into something more conventional? Barb's is a great example of this. Up until the start of LRT construction, Barb's was known for fairly low mileage. As the crowds have dwindled (especially during the day), the extras and opportunities for "take out" have greatly increased. Owners need to tolerate this otherwise girls will go to clubs that are more tolerant of extras.

One thing people need to keep in mind with strip clubs in Ottawa (and many other places as well), is that turning a profit is often a secondary benefit. The main purpose of the club is laundering money for the "organized interests" who foot the money behind the club. Operational losses, or increases in licensing fees are absorbed through corporate tax breaks. As long as there's some cashflow through the club, it will stay open. To really pick on Barb's, this explains why ownership can get away with putting no effort into marketing the club, or maintaining a decent level of décor. Common sense dictates that creating a club that could be used by a wider audience (e.g. something with a classier, loungier décor that might attract open-minded couples, and not just guys looking for a quickie) would be more profitable.

What's the future? I think you'll see more of the model that's used at The Playmate. Multiple facilities under one roof that cater to a range of adult entertainment tastes. NuDen has sort of gone in this direction with the development of Club Obsession. My guess is that Obsession is a transitory use of the space until brothels are legalized. Barefax may be able to convert their space to some degree, as might Tease. The real loser is again Barb's as there's no room to expand, and very little ability to convert the space into multiple uses.
 

TheRiddlerMan

Member
Jun 14, 2012
190
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It's a curious model - the dancers make a lot of money off solo guys like me who never buy more than one drink and are only there for the CR experience, but the club wants the group of guys in there buying pitchers and shots and mostly staying on the floor. It's almost at cross purposes. What Jessica describes makes sense for the clubs to make money (stricter rules for the CR, more events to draw different crowds, etc) , but then the strippers would make less money and start working different clubs or just move onto other parts of the sex industry.

Other than the laundering theory, I don't see the long-term rationale for running a club. Seems to me that a regular night club would make more money.
 

canuckhooker

Active member
Oct 5, 2008
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A lot of this was explained in the other thread by both me and CK. Just so you understand the hospitality industry in general has low margins, which is why so many bars and restaurants go out of business every year. The strip clubs are no different in that regard except that the scarcity of licenses available give them an intangible value.

As Jessica said in the other thread back in the day the girls used to get paid for their work. Generally they would be at a club for a week, and they got a small stipend for their work. (Maybe $150-$200 a week). They would be put on a schedule and would rotate from club to club. They also used to serve drinks to people and made money that way as well. This was back in the days of $5 dances. But that assumes that the dancers are reliable, will show up, stay on the floor, do their shows and stay for the shift.

So the model now seems to work. Set a fee to work, like a contractor, and let the girls keep what they make on dances. They have to do stage shows, but realistically most girls would only have to do one or two shows per shift. If it was more than that it would be either because they wanted to go on stage, (some love being on stage and want to be up there) or something else happened with the schedule.

Getting a spot at a club was a good thing and if you screwed up or were unpopular you were lucky to get a booking. Some of the girls were also being "managed" (still happens today) and they were given "incentive' to work. Nowadays, not so much. The dancers don't want to commit to shifts in advance, and are not quite as reliable. (a sign of the times for people of that age unfortunately). It becomes a nightmare for the club owners and managers to police that process. I know a club I worked at tried getting girls to book in advance, offering a limited number of slots per shift, and that soon became unworkable. A girl would have a bad shift and decide not to come in the next day for example, or head off to greener pastures.

This was also where there were more clubs and less other options for your adult entertainment dollar. That has changed considerably.

So this model seems to work. The girls pay a fee to work, do a couple of stage shows and get to keep what they earn. And not all the dancers think doing a stage show is a bad thing. Some love it and ask to go on stage. Others hide from the DJ or manager so they don't have to go up.

The owners make their money on booze, food, door, coat check etc. And although they love big groups of people dropping money on booze, a steady flow of regulars having a couple of drinks is probably the bread and butter for the owners. Many of these guys also take dances. Even if they guy only has one drink and takes a dancer in back, that is fine. He will probably come back and the dancer is happy she earned.

Who nobody likes is the guy who comes in, orders a pop, nurses it for hours, watches the stage shows, ignores the girls and doesn't take dances. They help nobody.

As for the "money laundering" I can not comment. I never saw it but i am sure it goes on some places. But don't kid yourself it goes on at a lot of cash businesses, including a lot of regular bars etc.
 

blondefan

Member
Jul 6, 2015
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i got the impression from talking to a lady that works at Pigale's that they have a minimum amount of time they have to be there. I'm not sure if that is true or she was just saying that to try and stick to a certain number of hours to maximize what she makes

Also at Pigale's they have a free table dance they have to give on the nights I'm usually there. I'm not sure if its every night but when it happens all girls have to participate. I have also had a CR session cut short because the girl didn't pay attention to how close she was to her going up on stage next
The next time i saw this same lady actually warned me ahead of time we probably should wait until after her mandatory dance (which I believe they have to do 2 of every night on each stage....for Pigale's thats 4 dances). Different clubs might have different policies
 

pagypie81

Member
Jun 21, 2015
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couple more tidbits:
i believe the minimum is 5hr; so if they sign in, they have to stay there for at least 5hr.
the dj fee varies at different clubs...sometimes it changes based on time of day sometimes its a flat rate.
some clubs mandate a certain number of shifts per week split between days/nights
i believe the number of stages is a function of time of day, day of week and number of dancers working. in my experience its at least 2, and if the dj calls her, she must go regardless of how many times she's gone or if she's busy with a customer
and while not mandatory, dancers do also tip the dj/shift manager
 

purTERBed

New member
Dec 23, 2017
161
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I stopped by the little strip club in Casselman (I think).
They have 'strippers' but they gave up all pretence of having them strip on stage.
You can pay them for a private show behind a curtain. The curtain ends about a foot off the floor and is in plain view.
I can't say they were fucking, but his feet were between hers, toes in the same direction, and she was grunting repeatedly ;-)
 

zbla

Active member
Jun 30, 2011
241
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I stopped by the little strip club in Casselman (I think).
They have 'strippers' but they gave up all pretence of having them strip on stage.
You can pay them for a private show behind a curtain. The curtain ends about a foot off the floor and is in plain view.
I can't say they were fucking, but his feet were between hers, toes in the same direction, and she was grunting repeatedly ;-)
I've been to that place but I thought it was closed. Was this recently that you were there. Were there any ebonies there?
 
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