Nanaimo - No Strip Clubs Left

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Robert Barron reports for Nanaimo's Daily News, 13 Oct 2011:

 

http://www.canada.com/Globe+exotic+show+lounge+only+holdout+vibrant+enterprise/5542859/story.html

 

Nanaimo has had a vibrant stripper club scene for decades, boasting at least two at any given time.

 

The clubs catered mainly to the large blue-collar population that proliferated during the heyday of the city's mining and forestry industries.

 

But times are changing and the last of Nanaimo's strip clubs, Front Street's Globe Hotel, recently closed, leaving the city without a single established venue for exotic dancing for the first time in living memory.

 

The Globe will reopen in about two weeks as The Courts, but new owner Stewart Merilees made it clear he is not planning on reintroducing exotic dancers when he opens his new pub.

 

There are only 23 strip clubs now registered in all of B.C., with just three operating on Vancouver Island and all of them are located in Victoria.

 

Those in the industry point to a variety of reasons why strip clubs appear to be on the way out, including changing demographics, harder economic times that keeps patrons away and the growth of Internet pornography.

 

But long-time bar owner Paul Manhas, who has operated a number of strip clubs in the city over the years, said there will always be room in Nanaimo for at least one strip club, regardless of the changing times.

 

"I personally don't like the strip-club business because its a rough industry and I don't intend to get back into it again," said Manhas, who owned the now-closed Porky's strip club and the Jungle Cabaret, which once operated as an exotic dance venue.

 

"However, there was money in it and I believe that another one can be successful in Nanaimo if it offers patrons a touch of class."

 

The names of the Nanaimo pubs that operated as strip clubs over the years are well known to many in the city.

 

They include the Balmoral Hotel, Commercial Hotel, the Jungle Cabaret, Porky's and the Globe Hotel.

 

But strip club owners admit it's getting harder every day to make a success of the business.

 

Jean, who declined to giver her last name, is a manager at Victoria's Monty's Showroom Pub.

 

She said the costs and the problems of running a strip club continue to skyrocket, with the dancers' agents increasingly demanding more money for their services, combined with the growing costs of security in sometimes rowdy venues and the increasing costs of liquor.

 

As well, Jean said that while many of her older patrons still regularly visit Monty's, there are fewer young people and she believes many of them are accessing porn on the Internet rather than visiting strip clubs.

 

"There's a lot of hassles to running a strip club and it's increasingly harder to make any money," she said.

 

"In fact, I'd say it's probably harder than running any other business. I'm not surprised that many are now closing."

 

Long-time Nanaimo city councillor Bill Holdom has seen many strip clubs, as well as other drinking establishments in the city, come and go over the years.

 

He said he attributes much of the decline in the strip club industry in Nanaimo to changing demographics in the growing city that require different types of entertainment than what was popular in Nanaimo's past.

 

"I have no moral objections to strip clubs in Nanaimo and I wouldn't try to shut one down," Holdom said.

 

"But they generally do attract a rough crowd and I wouldn't care if we didn't see another one set up in Nanaimo again."

 

Merilees agreed that attitudes toward the bar scene in Nanaimo are changing, largely due to the liquor control strategy introduced in 2007 by the city's political leaders that has successfully led to dramatic decreases in crime, public drunkenness and rowdyism on city streets.

 

Merilees said that has resulted in a better downtown core where revitalization efforts are now beginning to pay off, and he wants his establishment to reflect the best of what Nanaimo's downtown core now offers, which means it won't operate as a strip club under his ownership.

 

While believing that there will always be room for a successful strip club in Nanaimo, Manhas said he is pleased that he has directed his business interests in other directions.

 

"Life is much better for me these days, and I wouldn't do it again," he said.

 

STRIP CLUBS IN CANADA:

 

159 Canada

 

23 British Columbia

 

3 Vancouver Island

 

0 Nanaimo

 

SOURCE: CLUBZONE.COM

[LalaniElectrica 100]

I know, they actually now have club 241 Tues-Thurs and another pub in nanoose that has dancers as well! :) Nanaimo has 2 clubs now, so go check it out! :)

[SixtySomething 100]

JJ's in Campbell River still alive too.