How Adult Industries Are Faring in the Recession

The adult industries of the country-adult films, sex toy and novelty shops, exotic dancing-bring in more than 12 million dollars to the U.S a year. It is a very flexible industry with many workers and many buyers. During these hard economic times, how are these industries holding up?

Well, the numbers are that business is down a 30% across all segments of the adult-industry, from porn to go-go dancing. And these are industries that boast low overhead and up to a 50% profitability.

Pole Business

There are hundreds of gentlemen's clubs in the U.S. from huge two or three level clubs that take up whole city blocks to the tiny little hole-in-the-wall ones tucked away in the bad part of town. Owners are reporting that they're getting the same level of customers, but fewer "high rollers" -- the customers that will drop several grand a night.

Rick's Cabaret International, chain of 19 clubs that attract more than 70,000 customers on a regular basis, recently saw a drop in business in a Philly-situated Rick's. So what did they do? They simply changed the name of the club from Rick's to Club Onyx, yet another chain of clubs they own that caters to sports figures and hip-hop artists. Immediately, business went back up, even exceeding its original profits. Don't all business owners wish they could solve their financial woes that easily?

And other clubs simply do the exact opposite of what a lot of other companies are doing: instead of laying off workers, they hold job fairs. Foxy Lady, in Providence, Rhode Island, held a job fair on Saturday, March 21st. They were looking to fill more than 30 positions, from DJs to dancers to waitresses.

Not so Good for Porn

The adult film industry is not selling as many DVDs as they used to. The internet is their biggest problem, with people opting for cheap or free internet porn instead of an expensive DVD.

Steven Orstein, president and founder of Wicked Pictures, and 29-year veteran of the adult entertainment industry, isn't planning on cutting down movie production, but is looking to cut way down on expenses. The adult DVD industry is especially affected by the rising price of oil, as a large section of the business circles around transportation, and distribution. There is also a problem with the production of DVD cases, which are made out of an oil-based product.

One thing is for certain, however. No matter how bad the economy gets, people are still going to participate in carnal activities. There aren't many forces out there stronger than a naked woman gyrating all over a man, nor seeing two people practicing different karma sutra positions.

Sources:
Karen Hawkins, "Adult Entertainment Jobs More Popular as Recession Grows"
www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/23

Betsy Schiffman, "Turns out Porn isn't Recession-Proof"
www.blog.wired.com/../turns-out-por-1.html