Strip Club News

The drive to gather enough signatures to force a statewide vote to repeal new strip club restrictions in Ohio has failed, falling 60,000 signatures short despite a reported $1.5 million in expenditures by the coalition behind the effort.

The new law enacts severe penalties for touching of nude or semi-nude dancers, prohibits dancers from touching each other, and forces a halt to nude entertainment at midnight, which will severely harm the income generating ability of clubs and dancers.

Strip club owners and owners of other adult oriented establishments have banded together to file a federal lawsuit on constitutionality grounds and another lawsuit was filed challenging Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s handling of the referendum petition.

A federal judge denied a request on 10/18/2007 to grant a temporary restraining order to an association of club owners. US District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. scheduled a hearing on November 16th on the club owners’ request for a preliminary injunction.

As of now, the law has taken effect and clubs are complying. Lap dances will not be what they used to be in Ohio.

Rick’s Cabaret International, a publicly traded corporation specializing in owning and operating adult entertainment establishments throughout the United States (NASDAQ symbol: RICK), has announced that they have signed a letter of intent to purchase a strip club located somewhere in the Southeast.

The acquisition target’s name and location have not been revealed. Rick’s is keeping it confidential for now. Per the terms of the letter of intent, the unnamed club will be acquired for $25 million and is expected to generate annual revenues of $18 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $8 million per year. The deal is contingent on due diligence, financing, and the transfer of pertinent licenses.

In the 12-month period ending June 30th, 2007, Rick’s had revenues of $29 million and EBITDA of $4.4 million. This is a sizeable acquisition that will nearly double Rick’s annual revenue and EBITDA.

Also this week Rick’s announced that it will be buying a 51% ownership stake in The End Zone, Inc., which owns and operates Crazy Horse Too in Philadelphia, PA. After the deal closes the club will be renamed under the Rick’s Cabaret brand. Rick’s plans to add an upscale steakhouse to the club.

Official Press Release

There may be a new strip club opening soon at 3388 S. Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles in the Regent Square area. According to one article, the name for the new club is Skin Cabaret.

What makes this story so interesting is the creative way the people behind the club managed to get around local adult entertainment restrictions to get a permit. Los Angeles city law requires that adult oriented businesses be at least 1,000 feet apart from each other and at least 500 feet away from a park, school, church, or residential area. The new club is 993 feet away from a business called Dominion, which has been described as a bondage club. Thus, Skin Cabaret is within 1,000 feet of another adult entertainment business and against city regulations. However, the people behind the club are chopping 7 feet off the building to bring the location within the distance requirement.

It’s a shame that someone who wants to open a strip club has to hire a construction company to demolish 7 feet of the building in order to get around arbitrary restrictions that really serve no public safety purpose. But, let’s give them credit for pulling this off. If there is a will, there is a way.

Despite spending $1.5 million dollars in an effort to collect enough signatures to force a statewide vote to repeal punitive new strip club restrictions, an Ohio coalition of adult entertainment businesses has failed.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said that the coalition known as the Vote No On Issue 1 Committee was not able to gather enough signatures from at least 44 of the 88 counties in Ohio necessary to get the initiative to repeal new strip club restrictions on the November ballot.

The new restrictions impose heavy penalties on the most innocuous touching and require adult entertainment businesses to close at midnight—which is when many of them start getting busy. These restrictions serve no public safety purpose; they are nothing more than a way to circumvent existing court rulings and punish adult entertainment by making it more difficult to do business.

The only thing that will stop this law from taking effect now is a judge issuing a temporary order while the coalition makes its appeals in the court system.

This is only the beginning. This victory for the bible thumpers will only embolden them to pressure spineless lawmakers into even tighter restrictions or an all-out ban on any nudity whatsoever, which is their true goal. Succeeding at forcing clubs to close at midnight isn’t going to satisfy these peoples’ cravings for power. They are hellbent on robbing citizens of their freedoms by imposing their morality on them via the legislative process and very few lawmakers on either the Democratic or Republican side are stepping up to preserve the freedoms of citizens.

It’s a shame that America is moving backwards because of a small, vocal group of messed up people.

Perhaps the people at Citizens for Community Values, the group that pushed for these new restrictions, should focus their attention on pedophile priests and child abusers in the church instead of on the recreational activities of consenting adults.

Officials in Daytona Beach, FL, are preparing to crack down on strip clubs just in time for annual Biketoberfest.

Thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts will be pouring into town and if they are pouring beer down their throats, they won’t be able to look at topless or scantily clad women.

City ordinance prohibits nude or scantily clad dancing in any establishment that serves alcohol or is within 500 feet of another establishment that serves alcohol. As part of the upcoming crackdown, police will be combing local strip clubs looking for any dancer who shows too much skin. Even pasties and G-strings are illegal per city ordinance as they are deemed too revealing by city law. The city even went so far as to distribute an image of the minimum amount of attire a dancer may wear, essentially establishing a dress code for dancers (now the government is telling people how they can dress—how’s that for free expression?).

If a dancer violates the ordinance by showing too much skin, she can be arrested. Club managers could be arrested as well.

Though club attorneys are eventually hoping to take this before the US Supreme Court, in the meantime city leaders will do their best to harm the economic viability of businesses that offer adult entertainment and infringe on the rights of consenting citizens for no other reason than their own personal dislike of this type of entertainment which is enjoyed by millions of people every year.

(I have been to several fully-nude strip clubs that serve alcohol over the years in a few different states and never once have I witnessed anybody misbehaving or causing trouble.)

In Europe you can find women topless at any beach or pool in full view of men and little children. In many countries, there are nude beaches or sections of public parks set aside for nude sunbathing and recreation (like Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany, for example). Yet in Daytona Beach, Florida, if a dancer shows too much of her buttock or covers her nipple with a pastie she can be handcuffed and hauled off to jail if alcohol is served within 500 feet. Unbelievable!

Citizens need to start voting with their wallets. Next year people who attend Biketoberfest should take their money and go to a city that is more respecting of peoples’ freedoms.

Scores Being Sued

A former bartender at Scores in New York City, Siri Diaz, is suing the club claiming employees were forced to work for substandard wages and cheated out of tips and overtime pay. The suit was extended to class status representing 100 current or former Scores employees at several club locations. The claim regarding the tips stems from the club’s in-house currency called Diamond Dollars which are redeemed for 10% less than face value. Under the law, if an employee is paid less than minimum wage it is illegal for the employer to keep any portion of the tips. The claimants are seeking an unspecified amount in back pay and overtime.

Las Vegas, Nevada

The Olympic Garden in Las Vegas could qualify for a taxpayer subsidy for a new neon sign outside the club. The topless club is asking for $50,000 in taxpayer money to help pay for the new $130,000 sign. The city has a program whereby businesses in certain redevelopment areas can qualify for money to spruce up their properties.

Fort Worth, Texas

There may be some new strip clubs coming to the Ft. Worth, TX area. The city council approved plans for a large gentleman’s club and four other sexually oriented businesses recently. A small contingent of irrational residents is opposed as they fear that strip clubs will bring crime to the area. One all-nude BYOB club is proposed for an area near Interstate 820 and Trinity Blvd.

San Antonio, Texas

City Councilwoman Diane Cibrian joined with a group of concerned citizens to protest the opening of a new strip club to be called Booby Rock scheduled to open in mid-November near Huebner Rd. and Interstate 10. The name of the club reportedly is derived from the name of an island in the Virgin Islands. Regardless, it’s a nice way to work a part of the female anatomy into the name.

A relatively new strip club in Salem, Oregon, is reportedly for sale. Presley’s Playhouse Cabaret opened seven months ago and the owner is looking to sell so he can move to Montana or explore other business opportunities.

Presley’s Playhouse is a nude club featuring female dancers with a liquor license. The owner, Frank Boussad, is asking $400,000 for the business and $900,000 for the property. The owner may be willing to lease the property instead of selling it outright for $5,500 per month.

According to news reports, Boussad claims the business is doing well and generating a “big profit”.

Presley’s Playhouse Cabaret Website

The Boom Boom Cabaret in Lubbock, TX, emerged victorious in a settlement with Lubbock County earlier this week that will give the ownership of the strip club $50,000 of taxpayers’ money.

The strip club and the county were in a dispute over the club’s sexually oriented business permit application which contained mistakes back in January, according to the county. The county then stripped the gentlemen’s club of its permit to offer nude dancing. Boom Boom Cabaret continued to operate with clothed dancers until a judge issued an injunction in June that allowed the club to offer nude dancing again.

The Court ruled that the club should have been allowed more time to correct the errors on its permit application. Lubbock County commissioners voted to settle with the club to cover lost revenue and attorney fees.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld Louisville’s adult entertainment ordinance that requires dancers to wear pasties, prohibits touching, limits the hours of operation, and prohibits the sale of alcohol in such establishments.

It is possible this will be appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. If this is appealed and fails, Louisville will be one of the lamest cities in America.

An additional 230,000 petition signatures were submitted by a coalition just before the final deadline to put an initiative on the November ballot to repeal the state’s new restrictions on strip clubs.

In September, 382,500 signatures were submitted, but two-thirds of them were ruled invalid. The coalition had an additional 10 days to get enough valid signatures to total 241,366 in order to force a statewide vote on the issue. The latest signatures will be reviewed for validity.

The new law forces strip clubs to close at midnight and increases penalties for touching dancers.

Flesh Club in San Bernardino, California, may be forced to close for eight months as the result of an August ruling by Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez that the club routinely engaged in promiscuous sexual and lewd conduct.

In a trial that lasted nearly 10 months, dancers and private investigators testified that prostitution frequently occurred in the club, with several dancers admitting that they kept price lists for sex acts, according to news reports.

Judge Alvarez will make a final ruling before October 24th. The club’s owners maintain that the prosecution of the club stems from hostile feelings resulting from a $1.4 million civil judgement against the city for harming the club’s business in 2004.

Psychologist Geoffrey Miller of the University of New Mexico and other researchers did a study comparing an exotic dancer’s money making ability at different times during the month and discovered that a dancer’s income is significantly higher when she is most fertile.

The researchers studied dancers at local gentlemen’s clubs. They found that dancers made nearly twice as much money when they were close to ovulating as they did when they were menstruating, and almost an average of the two during periods in between.

According to the study, dancers made about $70 per hour just before ovulating, compared to $50 per hour when they weren’t, and only $35 per hour when on their periods.

The differences in income were attributed to changes in the stripper’s natural body odor and hip and facial features during their cycles. It is possible that there were also subtle changes in behavior during the study subjects’ fertile periods.

It was also discovered that dancers using birth control pills made significantly less than those who didn’t, earning an average of $37 per hour compared to $53 per hour. The use of birth control could mean the loss of many thousand dollars per year for a stripper because there is no earnings boost during ovulation.

It is well known that humans respond to pheromones emitted by the opposite sex. If a stripper wants to make good money, she should dip her finger in her pussy and wipe it all over herself. Well, that’s Strip Club Central’s theory, anyway. Guys love the smell of pussy!

You can read the stripper study here (PDF).

Federal authorities are hurriedly looking for a buyer for the former Crazy Horse Too in lucrative Las Vegas, Nevada.

The strip club is for sale following the 2006 guilty plea for tax evasion of former owner Rick Rizzolo. Rizzolo, currently serving a one-year federal prison sentence, was ordered to sell the club to raise $17 million dollars to pay court ordered settlements and forfeitures. After Rizzolo failed to the sell the club it was seized by the federal government and is currently in the possession of the Marshals Service.

The government is eager to sell Crazy Horse Too which is currently closed because the club will permanently lose its liquor license if it isn’t reopened by December 31st, making the club worth significantly less than the current estimated market value of mid-$30 million. The club will lose its liquor license because of zoning laws that prohibit sexually oriented businesses from being located within 1500 feet of each other; there is another one nearby.

The Las Vegas office of CB Richard Ellis is handling the marketing of the club. So if you have around $35 million laying around or are able to obtain financing to close the deal and get it reopened in time, you may want to consider this rare opportunity to own one of Las Vegas’ former top gentlemen’s clubs.

The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of a 14-year-old case involving the city of Chicago’s revocation of a club’s licenses for serving alcohol where scantily clad dancers were performing.

The name of the gentlemen’s club in question is VIP’s. Back in 1993 when the club was called Thee Dollhouse, police officers observed dancers exposing parts of their breasts and buttocks that are prohibited under city law. The result was the revocation of the club’s business and liquor licenses. The club had been allowed to continue operating while it was challenging the constitutionality of the law. Now that the court of last resort has refused to hear the case, there are no remaining legal options for VIP’s.

Chicago law prohibits the display of genitals, pubic hair, buttocks, and female areola where alcohol is served. The law goes back nearly 30 years and was supposedly intended to reduce the negative secondary effects on the surrounding community that the combination of liquor and nude or semi-nude dancing could have, whatever those could possibly be.

From 1993 – 2006, there were 9,468 murders in the city of Chicago. There have also been around 200,000 robberies and thousands of rapes during that period of time. It’s a good thing the city has been working hard to make sure guys can’t sip beer while they look at women’s breasts, isn’t it?

The city council in Salem, OR, is planning to discuss possible new regulations on lap dances following a loss in court earlier this year. In July, Marion County judge Albin Norblad ruled that the city’s prohibitions on touching were unconstitutional per the state constitution.

The case stems from a dancer who was arrested at Cheetah’s for engaging in prohibited touching in April of 2005 with an undercover police officer. The prohibited touching in question involved the grinding of the dancer’s pelvis into the officer’s pelvis for the purpose of arousing sexual excitement.

Salem residents are also hoping to gain support to amend the state constitution to allow for stricter regulation of strip clubs.

The Salem city ordinance 96.300 (PDF) read as follows:

96.300. PROHIBITED TOUCHING.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to pay a fee, or to receive a fee, directly or indirectly, for touching or offering to touch the clothed or unclothed body of another for the purpose of arousing sexual excitement in himself or any other person.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to pay a fee, or to receive a fee, directly or
indirectly, for allowing another person to touch his clothed or unclothed body for the purpose of arousing sexual excitement in himself or any other person.

(c) It shall be unlawful for any principal, agent, or employee of a business to cause, permit, aid, or abet any violation of this section by any principal, agent, or employee of the business. (Ord No. 96-72; Ord No. 70-74)

Even we here at Strip Club Central are surprised that a judge found grindage to be a constitutionally protected form of expression. But we aren’t complaining.

Twelve dancers and two customers were arrested yesterday at the Houston Dolls Cabaret in Houston, TX, for violations of local sexually oriented business regulations, allegations of prostitution, and drug sales.

Harris County sheriff’s deputies obtained arrest warrants for a total of 25 female employees of the club following a three-week undercover investigation. One news report indicates that two of the female workers arrested inside the club were underage.

More arrests are likely to follow.

VCG Holding Corp. has purchased Jaguars Gold Club near Fort Worth, Texas. The company purchased 100% of the stock of Golden Productions JGC Fort Worth LLC for $3.7 million in cash.

Earlier this month, VCG acquired Platinum Plus gentlemen’s club in Portland, Maine for $4.5 million; they also paid $1 million in earnest money to acquire an affiliated club in Miami, FL, contingent on the transfer or permits and licenses. VCG plans to rename the Platinum Plus club under the PT’s brand.

VCG Holding, headquartered in Lakewood, CO, owns and operates several upscale adult entertainment establishments across the country. VCG has been active in acquiring gentlemen’s clubs and may purchase more in the near future. VCG is a publicly traded company with ticker symbol PTT.

Here is a link to an interesting article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The article finds that there is little or no adverse effect on the neighboring community from strip clubs. Not only that, but the customer traffic to strip clubs—often businessmen—is beneficial to surrounding businesses.

Article

A coalition of strip club activists fighting to repeal a new Ohio law that prohibits clubs from offering nude entertainment from midnight to 6 AM and increases penalties for illegal touching was dealt a severe blow when two-thirds of their petition signatures were ruled invalid.

Of the 382,500 signatures submitted on the petitions, only 125,400 were ruled valid. The coalition has only ten days to get an additional 116,000 valid signatures to force the issue to be placed before the voters on the statewide November ballot.

In addition to the arbitrary hours of operation limitation, the law sets a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $250 fine if patrons physically touch nude or semi-nude performers. If a patron touches certain areas like the breast or genitals, the penalty is a maximum of six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.

One must wonder what harm to society can occur as a result of a person appearing nude before consenting adults after midnight. Is this law intended to protect society or harm the ability of strip clubs to do business and dancer income potential? The answer is obviously the latter.

This is just another example of the enemies of strip clubs running roughshod over the citizens’ court-affirmed constitutional rights.

US Attorney Eric Melgren’s office announced that Cherokee County Attorney Michael L. Goodrich was indicted by a federal grand jury on counts of extortion, wire fraud, and intimidating a witness while taking money from Sensations gentlemen’s club in Galena, Kansas.

Melgren allegedly received cash and favors from the owners and employees of Sensations. Melgren took money from the owner of Sensations, Hai Ching Ying, and the manager, Tom Dekeyser between Jan. 2005 and Sept. 2007 in exchange for favorable legal treatment.

Goodrich faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison on each count of extortion and wire fraud if convicted and up to $250,000 in fines.

Five dancers were arrested and the manager of Vegas Showgirls was cited for violations of Pinellas County ordinance 6-2 which prohibits the exposure of the female areola or genitals where alcohol is sold.

This arrest follows an investigation of complaints of illegal activity at the club. This is the third time in the past six months that dancers have been arrested at Vegas Showgirls.

Pinellas County Code

Recently, the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant a Daytona Beach strip club a rehearing in a case in which the court overturned a lower court’s decision ruling that the anti-nudity laws of Daytona Beach, Florida, were unconstitutional. Police are preparing for crackdowns on clubs operating in violation of the ordinance.

Attorneys for Lollipops Gentlemen’s Club, a nude strip club in Daytona Beach, are preparing briefs in hopes that the US Supreme Court will eventually decide to hear their appeal. Other clubs affected by the ordinance are Club Topic, Molly Brown’s, Pink Pony, and Shark Lounge.

The Daytona Beach ordinance prohibits nudity in establishments that sell alcohol or are located within 500 feet of places where alcoholic beverages are sold. In addition, the city ordinance severely restricts where adult oriented businesses can be located.

Daytona Beach Nudity Ordinance

Dean Cohen, a man from Florida who has opened several adult entertainment establishments around the country, has proposed a new upscale topless club in Windham, New Hampshire.

The tentative name for the new gentleman’s club is Goldfinger New Hampshire. The proposal calls for $600,000 in renovations to a building on Route 28 where the club will be located.

Before opening the club, Cohen must overcome a local ordinance prohibiting nude dancing. Reports indicate Cohen is willing to fight in court if necessary to get his topless club opened.

We wish him luck.

On Oct. 10th, Sarasota County, Florida, officials will hold a public hearing on plans for new restrictions on strip clubs. The new restrictions under consideration are bans on liquor and lap dances along with stringent location requirements.

The new owners of the Oval Office gentlemen’s club at 1100 Main St., Green Bay, WI, have run into permit problems while remodeling in preparation for opening. The Oval Office is in the location previously occupied by Bamboo Room, a nude club that served alcohol and operated in that spot for 20 years.

City inspectors have issued a stop work order because the renovations have gone beyond what is allowed by restrictions enacted in 1992. The 1992 ordinance prohibits adult use at that location. But because there was an existing club operating there, Bamboo Room, it was grandfathered in and allowed to operate as a non-permitted use. As part of these restrictions, the building could not be altered or improved beyond 50% of its 1992 value, or else it would lose its grandfather-clause status and be required to get a new permit.

Property values and remodeling costs have appreciated greatly since 1992, severely limiting the new owners’ ability to improve the place for patrons while still maintaining its ability to offer adult entertainment. Structural improvements are limited to a paltry $20,450. Exceeding that amount would mean that the new owners would lose their grandfathered status. They would then need to get a new use permit to operate; they would not be able to get one for adult entertainment.