Often jeered as the death of nightlife, as the idea that exterminated fun in downtown clubs, the prick-friendly practice of bottle service is taking a well-deserved hit.
Some of those poor, poor bankers on Wall Street have fallen on such hard times that they can no longer afford to buy their way into nightclubs with even one measly $350 bottle of Grey Goose. As a result, clubs that have grown dependent on such gentlemen, who would often use $10,000 tabs to secure their welcome, are taking revenue losses in the neighborhood of 30 percent. Such venues now face a decision to either adapt or die off, opening the potential for a revolution in New York nightlife.
“The clubs that did have to rely on the high rollers, [they] kind of chased all the fun people out of the mega clubs,” says Larry Tee, the DJ famous for, among other things, inventing Electroclash at nightclubs like Luxx and Volume. “I actually think that the downturn in the economy will be wonderful news for New York nightlife.”
It isn’t just the outsiders who think that bottle service is dead. J.E. Englebert, co-owner of Prime and Suzie Wong Lounge, has already proclaimed the end of paying for tables. The newly relaunched Prime, he says, is shifting from a bottle minimum to a somewhat cheaper table minimum, requiring club goers to rent “real estate” in order to get in.
Other clubs, says Steven Lewis, a club designer and nightlife blogger, are switching from a bottle standard to a bar-tab minimum. To buy their entrance, clients would put down about a $200 bar tab that they could draw from throughout the night.
With less revenue from the high-rolling minority, nightspots will have to bring in more customers who each spend a more reasonable amount of money. This, says Lewis, will probably mean more dancing, better music and more conceptual innovation. As a designer, he expects to build more layouts with a lot of dance floor and a little room for tables.
“I think you will see more people that have been disenfranchised by the club being welcomed back,” he adds.
Historically, says Tee, the strength of the economy has had an inverse relationship with the excitement of nightlife. “At the beginning of the ‘90s,” he says, “when we had that post-Reagan droop, that was when The Love Machine was rockin’ and Roxy was red hot and Limelight was doin’ whatever you want to do.”
Tee adds that it was in the aftermath of Sept. 11 that his Electroclash festival achieved such success. “If we didn’t have things like this [recession] to totally disrupt New York and the country in general, things could get much worse,” he says.
Not everyone will evolve, though. Lewis says that he knows of six downtown nightclub owners that are looking to sell, get out of the business or bring in a new investment partner to change things around.
But the recession is giving nightclubs one small break, in the form of international clients with their “healthy domestic economies” and “valuable currency.”
Says Mark Baker, a promoter for Mansion Ultra Lounge, “We definitely have geared our promotion and our clientele toward Europeans, who have a lot more money to throw around now because of the euro-dollar break.”
Some of those poor, poor bankers on Wall Street have fallen on such hard times that they can no longer afford to buy their way into nightclubs with even one measly $350 bottle of Grey Goose. As a result, clubs that have grown dependent on such gentlemen, who would often use $10,000 tabs to secure their welcome, are taking revenue losses in the neighborhood of 30 percent. Such venues now face a decision to either adapt or die off, opening the potential for a revolution in New York nightlife.
“The clubs that did have to rely on the high rollers, [they] kind of chased all the fun people out of the mega clubs,” says Larry Tee, the DJ famous for, among other things, inventing Electroclash at nightclubs like Luxx and Volume. “I actually think that the downturn in the economy will be wonderful news for New York nightlife.”
It isn’t just the outsiders who think that bottle service is dead. J.E. Englebert, co-owner of Prime and Suzie Wong Lounge, has already proclaimed the end of paying for tables. The newly relaunched Prime, he says, is shifting from a bottle minimum to a somewhat cheaper table minimum, requiring club goers to rent “real estate” in order to get in.
Other clubs, says Steven Lewis, a club designer and nightlife blogger, are switching from a bottle standard to a bar-tab minimum. To buy their entrance, clients would put down about a $200 bar tab that they could draw from throughout the night.
With less revenue from the high-rolling minority, nightspots will have to bring in more customers who each spend a more reasonable amount of money. This, says Lewis, will probably mean more dancing, better music and more conceptual innovation. As a designer, he expects to build more layouts with a lot of dance floor and a little room for tables.
“I think you will see more people that have been disenfranchised by the club being welcomed back,” he adds.
Historically, says Tee, the strength of the economy has had an inverse relationship with the excitement of nightlife. “At the beginning of the ‘90s,” he says, “when we had that post-Reagan droop, that was when The Love Machine was rockin’ and Roxy was red hot and Limelight was doin’ whatever you want to do.”
Tee adds that it was in the aftermath of Sept. 11 that his Electroclash festival achieved such success. “If we didn’t have things like this [recession] to totally disrupt New York and the country in general, things could get much worse,” he says.
Not everyone will evolve, though. Lewis says that he knows of six downtown nightclub owners that are looking to sell, get out of the business or bring in a new investment partner to change things around.
But the recession is giving nightclubs one small break, in the form of international clients with their “healthy domestic economies” and “valuable currency.”
Says Mark Baker, a promoter for Mansion Ultra Lounge, “We definitely have geared our promotion and our clientele toward Europeans, who have a lot more money to throw around now because of the euro-dollar break.”
