Are bar/restaurant/lounge/club owners aware of the Sexual Market Place and it's going
10-18-2014, 09:34 AM
A few Fridays ago I went out to drink and catch up with a couple of buddies at the Dupont Circle/M Street area in DC. While we all know DC sucks, this was something else. The weather was perfect, and it was September in DC so all the college girls and young pros should be back in town. However, it wasn't so much of a sausage fest as it was deserted. At 10:30 it felt like no one was around. I've been to other
neighborhoods like U St. and felt the same way in the last year, but never quite
like that Friday. I went out for drinks to catch up with a friend on the Courthouse to
Ballston stretch in North Arlington area and experienced the same thing. Even new places were half empty.
In the past, I would have just have thought it was the usual case of DC sucking,
but after this, I wonder if this is happening elsewhere in North America. Is it?
I don't mean every place being a sausage fest on the weekend - that was established years ago. I mean every place feeling like a ghost town. No one appears to be going out anymore and it really does seem that the internet is doing to night life what it did to shopping malls. Chicks can get their attention online and guys are wising up and not bothering to go out.
I have noticed in the last year that DC area night spots have started to have to offer much better happy hour specials, especially on Friday and Saturday night. It used to be $5 bottle of Miller Lite until 6. Now it's $4 rail drinks until 8 and nice $4 bottles of beer all evening. It would appear that they have at least noticed that the traffic has fallen despite the DC economy doing well.
While forum members know the score, do the owners of these places know what is going on? Because if I was them, unless I was investing in a fast casual joint that sells breakfast sandwiches and salads to office drones or a high end steak house that I knew would bring in corporate types using their pre-tax dollar expense accounts, I wouldn't invest a cent in the hospitality business these days. Yet I still see new mid-range restaurants opening in new locations. I have no idea how they are going to make it.
Also, what is it like in other countries? Are owners there more or less savvy
that if they want the dudes paying $7 for a beer, they better have the ladies to
justify it? Are places getting quiet in countries other than the US & possibly Canada.
neighborhoods like U St. and felt the same way in the last year, but never quite
like that Friday. I went out for drinks to catch up with a friend on the Courthouse to
Ballston stretch in North Arlington area and experienced the same thing. Even new places were half empty.
In the past, I would have just have thought it was the usual case of DC sucking,
but after this, I wonder if this is happening elsewhere in North America. Is it?
I don't mean every place being a sausage fest on the weekend - that was established years ago. I mean every place feeling like a ghost town. No one appears to be going out anymore and it really does seem that the internet is doing to night life what it did to shopping malls. Chicks can get their attention online and guys are wising up and not bothering to go out.
I have noticed in the last year that DC area night spots have started to have to offer much better happy hour specials, especially on Friday and Saturday night. It used to be $5 bottle of Miller Lite until 6. Now it's $4 rail drinks until 8 and nice $4 bottles of beer all evening. It would appear that they have at least noticed that the traffic has fallen despite the DC economy doing well.
While forum members know the score, do the owners of these places know what is going on? Because if I was them, unless I was investing in a fast casual joint that sells breakfast sandwiches and salads to office drones or a high end steak house that I knew would bring in corporate types using their pre-tax dollar expense accounts, I wouldn't invest a cent in the hospitality business these days. Yet I still see new mid-range restaurants opening in new locations. I have no idea how they are going to make it.
Also, what is it like in other countries? Are owners there more or less savvy
that if they want the dudes paying $7 for a beer, they better have the ladies to
justify it? Are places getting quiet in countries other than the US & possibly Canada.