Strip clubs in Dallas/Fort Worth

[MillCreek]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102604711

So this article popped up in my CNBC news feed, and I was interested to see this:

RCI, which operates "adult gentlemen's clubs" under the Rick's Cabaret, XTC and Club Onyx brand names, among others, recently reported sales of $36.7 million in the quarter ended March 31, a record for the company, which has been consistently profitable. Stores open a year or more saw sales climb to $29.1 million, up from $28.5 million in the same quarter last year.

"Same store sales reflected growth at many clubs," CEO Eric Langan said in a press release earlier this month. "This was partially offset by adverse weather in March, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, where the company has 11 locations. New York City units had difficult comparisons to the year ago quarter, when the pro football championship was played locally."

There are almost no strip clubs in the Seattle area.  There used to be some, but the Feds put most of them out of business several years ago since they were fronts for money laundering, drug sales and prostitution. I think there is one or two topless dance clubs down by the airport.  How interesting that they are big business in Texas.

[SADShooter]

There's a stretch on Northwest Highway I refer to as "T&A Boulevard". Strip clubs, adult entertainment retailers, liquor stores, no-tell motels, and retail businesses catering to the needs of the "I didn't make the cut for the Rockettes" dancer community.

As to the particular local popularity, I have no theory to postulate apart from male business travelers seeking a brief respite form their workaday toils before the cab ride to DFW for the plane home to Toledo, Des Moines, Seattle, etc.

[Jamisjockey]

You'll notice those are corporate strip clubs, too.  I'd imagine that goes a long ways to keeping them cleaned up. 

[brimic]

You'll notice those are corporate strip clubs, too.  I'd imagine that goes a long ways to keeping them cleaned up.  

That.
Locally, all of the 'reputable' clubs are owned by larger entities.
'Independent' strip clubs are about on par with circus side shows.

Edit: Warning, thread veer ahead...
What I could never figure out is the strip clubs that serve food. I used to have coworkers that would go to '3rd shift friday happy hour/breakfast' every week to one of the more  sleazy clubs. I just not about eating food that is made in a place where naked people are, let alone a place where the naked people are either from the ghetto or meth heads from the trailer park. Just not able to stomach eggs and sausage over that.   
 Am I right? 

[wmenorr67]

There is one or two places here in Tulsa that serve food.  The one place I've been to for lunch serves a decent sandwich and the entertainment is a plus.

The other place I've heard does a great breakfast, Legs and Eggs.

[230RN]

"Edit: Warning, thread veer ahead..."

You need to warn about thread veer on this board?  

As the overnight cab driver in Boulder, I'd often get dispatched to The BusStop, "that strip club north of town" to pick up girls after their shift and bring them home*.  I'd often have to wait for them to change into street clothes, or reconcile their tips with the management, or whatever, and the "maître d'hôtel"  (i.e., bouncers) would always ask if I wanted something to eat while I waited.  Damned good hamburgers, brushed with a trifle of garlic butter, and from what I could tell, the finest cuts of beef.  Good fries, too.

The girls seemed to be of a nice decent sort... most of them were college students and just making their tuition and living expenses.

Funny thing is the first time I got dispatched to "the Bus Stop" to pick up "June Bug" or "Shantell," or whoever, I asked the dispatcher "which bus stop and how would I recognize 'June Bug' or 'Shantell,'" or whoever.

He told me to ask the bouncer for them, and that confused me even more.  Bouncer?  What do you mean, bouncer?

He patiently and paternally explained over the air that the "bus stop" was that place north of town.  Naïve little me!  It took a while for the ribbing over that to die down.

Don't know if it's all the same nowadays, but the place has been in business for a looooong time.  I figure if they've been around that long, it must be pretty legit.

Terry

* Sometimes two, rarely, three at a time.  That was always interesting because their conversations usually took place as if the cab driver (me) didn't exist.  Where's the "Ooo-la-la" emoticon?

[Balog]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102604711

So this article popped up in my CNBC news feed, and I was interested to see this:

RCI, which operates "adult gentlemen's clubs" under the Rick's Cabaret, XTC and Club Onyx brand names, among others, recently reported sales of $36.7 million in the quarter ended March 31, a record for the company, which has been consistently profitable. Stores open a year or more saw sales climb to $29.1 million, up from $28.5 million in the same quarter last year.

"Same store sales reflected growth at many clubs," CEO Eric Langan said in a press release earlier this month. "This was partially offset by adverse weather in March, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, where the company has 11 locations. New York City units had difficult comparisons to the year ago quarter, when the pro football championship was played locally."

There are almost no strip clubs in the Seattle area.  There used to be some, but the Feds put most of them out of business several years ago since they were fronts for money laundering, drug sales and prostitution. I think there is one or two topless dance clubs down by the airport.  How interesting that they are big business in Texas.

How large of an area is DFW compared to Seattle proper though? I know there's a handful scattered about in the greater metro area.

[vaskidmark]

As the overnight cab driver in Boulder, I'd often get dispatched to The BusStop, "that strip club north of town" to pick up girls after their shift and bring them home*.  I'd often have to wait for them to change into street clothes, or reconcile their tips with the management, or whatever, and the "maître d'hôtel"  (i.e., bouncers) would always ask if I wanted something to eat while I waited.  Damned good hamburgers, brushed with a trifle of garlic butter, and from what I could tell, the finest cuts of beef.  Good fries, too.

The girls seemed to be of a nice decent sort... most of them were college students and just making their tuition and living expenses.


Terry

Oh, the memories.

DoJ has an academy at Longmont.  My employment with Dept of Corrections required that I attend at least 2, sometimes 3, seminars in Longmont each year.

There were basically 2 groups - the young studs and mid-life crisisers who went to oogle the girls while salivating like Pavlov's dogs, and those of who appreciated art but recognized we could get more time and attention by talking with the girls when they were not on stage.  Probably the best time there was when the female warden of the old Alderson (WV) prison went with us.  (Actually, she rounded up the group and used her agency passenger van - the one her department made her drive out to CO - to get us to The Bus Stop and back.)  Between the sociology/psychology/social work and nursing majors there was a lot of interest in both corrections as possible employment and the (r)evolving theories of how to deal with/what to do with out clientele.  I can't prove it but one young lady probably got half her original case material for her thesis out of us one night.  (Did you know that there is room to hide a microcassete Dictaphone in what they wore before taking it off? )

And yes, the food there was excellent as well as very reasonably priced.  So was the booze.

A couple of years after the department moved the headquarters into a new building a club opened up about 2 block down the street (major crosstown route and several shopping malls located off the street).  They started out opening at 4:30 PM but soon started a lunch shift from 11:30 - 2:30, offering steaks & burgers at loss-leader prices.  The quality was good but not good enough to write home about.  IIRC lunch there in c. 1989 was a petite steak, potato wedges, iceberg lettuce wedge (about 1/8th of a medium head), and coffee/soft drinks for $5.95 + tax.  The lunch crowd seemed to be consistent at about 100-125 (they had seating for 250) and you could walk there, get lunch, and make it back to the office within the allotted 60-minute lunch break.  (It was not against the rules to drink alcohol at lunch but few seemed to do so; those that did tended to overdo and wind up first in trouble and then employed elsewhere.)

OTOH there is a club on the edge of downtown that, when it is open, makes the old-school Tiajuana bars beacons of decency and cleanliness.  They open for about 6 weeks, get shut down for alcohol and morals violations, and re-open again in 8-10 weeks to do it all over again.  There must be more graft there than in two or three Indian restaurants put together.  (There is never anybody in an Indian restaurant regardless of when or what day I go, but they stay open and seem to turn a profit.)

stay safe.

[wmenorr67]

  (There is never anybody in an Indian restaurant regardless of when or what day I go, but they stay open and seem to turn a profit.)

stay safe.

Well if you are the only customer I can imagine their food costs are way down.  Probably been serving you off the initial purchase for all this time.

[230RN]

By way of explanation, The Bustop, while located in the Boulder zip code, is readily accessible from Longmont.  And I've been mis-spelling it.

One of the bouncers gave me a 3/8" stack of "No Cover Charge" cards to hand out to my passengers.  Always good for a little extra tip from them.  I still have some around somewhere.

Well, 'nuffa that.  But boy, I sure learned a lot about Boulder whilst driving the overnight shift.

Terry

[MillCreek]

The girls seemed to be of a nice decent sort... most of them were college students and just making their tuition and living expenses.

I always thought that was an urban legend until I met in real life three women who worked their way through nursing, law and medical school, respectively, by dancing at clubs.  All three of them were attractive, and they said that they could earn a semester's worth of tuition, books and living expenses in just a few weeks of dancing.

[MechAg94]

I always thought that was an urban legend until I met in real life three women who worked their way through nursing, law and medical school, respectively, by dancing at clubs.  All three of them were attractive, and they said that they could earn a semester's worth of tuition, books and living expenses in just a few weeks of dancing.

I imagine you would find different grades of dancers and strip clubs with different types as well.  Some are just after cash and some get more into the drug/prostitution line.  I figure it depends on who was running the club.  I imagine the temptation to get into the darker side of things is high in many cases.   I never knew one so just speculation.
 

[KD5NRH]

Locally, all of the 'reputable' clubs are owned by larger entities.
'Independent' strip clubs are about on par with circus side shows.

If you ever have occasion to travel west from Fort Worth along 377, do NOT stop in Whiskey Flats (aka Wheatland) unless it's for the indoor range.  The "women" at the clubs there are scary enough when they're fully dressed and walking across the parking lot.

[Dannyboy]

That.
Locally, all of the 'reputable' clubs are owned by larger entities.
'Independent' strip clubs are about on par with circus side shows.

Edit: Warning, thread veer ahead...
What I could never figure out is the strip clubs that serve food. I used to have coworkers that would go to '3rd shift friday happy hour/breakfast' every week to one of the more  sleazy clubs. I just not about eating food that is made in a place where naked people are, let alone a place where the naked people are either from the ghetto or meth heads from the trailer park. Just not able to stomach eggs and sausage over that.   
 Am I right? 

You are not the only one. The idea of strip clubs and food skeeves me out. My coworkers tell me that the one we have in the area actually has pretty good food. I prefer the boobs, myself.

[Jamisjockey]

I've been in some really...really nice strip clubs.  It's been ages, but there was a chain I think the name is Platinum (or was if they're still around).  And I've been in some skeezy joints where I've considered burning my clothing the next day.

[TechMan]

I've been in some really...really nice strip clubs.  It's been ages, but there was a chain I think the name is Platinum (or was if they're still around).  And I've been in some skeezy joints where I've considered burning my clothing the next day.

There was a Platinum Plus in Lexington KY, that a friend had his bachelor party at.  The women there were WOW!

[Monkeyleg]

I briefly dated a topless dancer while in college. She later worked at the Club 41 on the Illinois/Wisconsin line. The club was one of three businesses in the building. The other two were a massage parlor and a motel. I think they had a symbiotic relationship.

[vaskidmark]

I imagine you would find different grades of dancers and strip clubs with different types as well.  Some are just after cash and some get more into the drug/prostitution line.  I figure it depends on who was running the club.  I imagine the temptation to get into the darker side of things is high in many cases.   I never knew one so just speculation.
 

Being in Longmont (next door to Boulder and the U of C) The Bus Stop had its pick of girls and could afford to let go any who endangered their reputation or ability to do business.  My addled memory does not recall all that many truely outstanding girls - no sense in putting down the paying customers by throwing stuff way above their class at them.  The again, there were none Jamis seemed to have gravitated towards.

For the most part the girls were ones you could take home to meet Mother.  Just steer the conversation away from "What do you do, dear?" and towards "What's your major?"

stay safe.

[Perd Hapley]

How interesting that they are big business in Texas.

Well, they say everything's bigger in Texas. But seriously, the sunbelt is thriving. The population is increasing. I would guess that most businesses are doing better there than in Seattle. Just a guess.

[MillCreek]

^^^Although I have not looked into it, I think it is a function of municipal or state laws that discourages or prohibits strip clubs in this area, especially if they serve alcohol.  Economy wise, Seattle is booming right now.  I saw on the local news that rents are skyrocketing, and there is only a month's worth of unsold housing inventory right now.  Houses are being snapped up, often with multiple offers.  I sincerely hope this still holds true a few months from now, when I go to sell this place.

[Scout26]

I can't believe I'm the first to post this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SesIRc7Agso

[Jamisjockey]

nsfw

https://youtu.be/z3xpS9oJiMQ

[Monkeyleg]

nsfw

https://youtu.be/z3xpS9oJiMQ

You're sick.

[Jamisjockey]

That song is one of the funniest I've ever, ever heard.

[roo_ster]

How large of an area is DFW compared to Seattle proper though? I know there's a handful scattered about in the greater metro area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas%E2%80%93Fort_Worth_metroplex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_metropolitan_area

DFW is larger by almost 2x.  Population larger by ~2x.

DFW is growing north to the Oklahoma border.  I know folk who commute from Denison, TX on the OK border.  Used to have an electric interurban railway from the OK border down through Denton, Dallas, Waco, & Ft Worth.  Sure would be nice to have right about now.

Never went to a strip club in DFW.  Did while I was in the service.  Those in Columbus, GA, outside Ft Benning were not worth going going to <shudders> .  Atlanta had some nice clubs.  My info is more than a little dated.