Author: AllenAngela

No business has been hit harder by the social distancing measures, occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, than ones that traditionally rely on close contact between clients and employees. And, at the top of that list are strip clubs where income primarily comes from entertaining clients – often in close contact.

Worse still, the adult industry, in general, is ineligible for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the federal government. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), any business that involves ‘live performances of a prurient sexual nature’ doesn’t qualify for the relief funds.

It’s a situation that has rendered most owners and strip club employees, who depend on tips (without benefits or paid off time) jobless and without a replacement income.

So, What Now?

Simple, you get creative. And that’s what a few dancers at Portland’s Lucky Devil Lounge have done.

With mouths to feed but no alternative source of income, these dancers are doing what they know best – provide adult services – but creatively per the Oregon state’s social distancing rules.

While other club owners throw tantrums and threaten the SBA with lawsuits, the Lucky Devil owner, Shon Boulden initially pivoted the club’s in-house kitchen to delivery and has now upgraded the services to allow his dancers deliver the food for a healthy income!

It doesn’t end there. The Lucky Devil Lounge has also added a drive-through pick-up option that allows customers to grab their foods while watching dancers work the poles on either side of the drive-through.

Both the delivery service, originally nicknamed Boober Eats but later renamed Lucky Devil Eats, and the drive-through service, known as Food 2Go-Go, cost an additional $30.

The club, however, maintains hygiene to the highest standards, with intense sanitization protocols already in place. Both dancers and patrons are also required to wear masks and gloves, as well as undergo temperature checks.

Better than Nothing

The truth is that both Shaun and his dancers aren’t making as much as they’d like. According to some of the dancers, they’re merely scraping by. But, many also agree that it’s better than nothing.

Dancer Elle Stranger, who spoke to Australian paper, Perth Now, for instance, is glad that she’s been given a chance to work so she can at least provide for her family during the pandemic.

“When the shutdowns started, I was distraught. I was anxious about my future, my financial security, and the wellbeing of my family,” she says. “I’ve been lucky to pivot.”

Most of the employees at Lucky Devil now deliver food, and, like other essential workers, have become “heroes.”

AUTHOR BIO: Blair Thomas has been a music producer, bouncer, screenwriter and for over a decade has been the proud Co-Founder of eMerchantBroker, the highest-rated high risk and escort merchant account processor in the country. He has climbed in the Himalayas, survived a hurricane, and lived on a gold mine in the Yukon. He currently calls Thailand his home with a lifetime collection of his favorite books.