NEUR E R P E R ENT OFILE
PR
W
hen most people think of strip club owners, their mind might conceive an image of man similar to Bernie Mac’s character in The Player’s Club: A very flamboyant, pimp-type character with a cheap suit and goliath sized greed. In Birmingham, Alabama, Zeus and Nick of The Palace strip club are genuine good guys who are leading the way in the strip club revolution and continue to change the way the world views strip club commanders. What kind of projects have you guys done in the community? Nick: For starts, I coach little league football. We do a little sponsorship with the little league, we sponsor an AAU basketball team. We also have a flag football team we sponsor; our team is third in the nation right now. Zeus: We sponsored a flag football tournament with the city Parks and Recreation Board. We did the first ever high school combine and we had kids get signed by colleges right there on the spot. Kids that would’ve never been seen at all, and they got signed to college football programs right there on the spot. A lot of times people associate strip clubs as being detrimental to society, but you two are kind of changing that philosophy. What made you decide to take such an influential role in the Birmingham community? Nick: It’s not anything we feel is an obligation thing, it’s just something we do, it’s who we are. Most of the times when you hear of strip club owners, they’re either drug dealers, or they’re doing this, or doing that, and we ain’t doing all that stuff. We’re guys that work hard, we’re young and you know, we lived in these communities and we figured hey, its our time now. We always said once we start doing something big we were gonna make a positive influence on other people so that they can do something big. So, don’t look down on these strip club owners as the guy from the streets. We might have came from the street, but that’s not where we’re going. Zeus: I also do Zeus Entertainment, so I work in the music biz and we do a lot of community service. We were just sitting down talking one day and we decided that we need to more things for the community, they already look down on us cause of the business we’re in so we basically started thinking of ways to make an impact. We’ve been doing the flag football thing for like 8 or 9 years now. Tell me about The Palace. What makes it better than other strip clubs? Nick: I think it’s more or less the clientele of people that we have. We try to keep it in a professional manner. Zeus: It’s the environment we try to keep. How long have you guys been in business? Zeus: If you look at it as Magic City 2, then we’ve been open since ’93, but if you look at it as The Palace, then we’ve been here for about two years. It used be Magic City 2, it was the sister club to the one in Atlanta. They sold it and we took it over a year ago. What made you want to start a strip club? Nick: I started back in like ’92. I used to run the Magic City in Atlanta, so once we opened up the one down here, I came down to Birmingham to help them do this one. I met Zeus and he was always that promotional guy, he’s always been in the entertainment business coming up with ideas and new ways to make a club better. It was something that intrigued me, and now we’ve been in this business like 13, 14 years. It’s almost like a second nature now. It’s not something you ever thought you’d be doing in life but after the first 7 or 8 years I figured, hey, this is what I do. I know you have a lot of fun at work. Can you tell me some of the most crazy, outrageous stories you’ve encountered through working in the strip club business? Nick: I can give you a story that’s been my highlight. It was in Atlanta, and stuff is a little different in Atlanta because of all the stars that come through the clubs. I’m a big sports fan and it was the first Super Bowl that was in Atlanta. Dallas and Buffalo were playing. Anyway, to make a long story short, Magic Johnson came to the club and had a wonderful time, so he invited me to his private party at The Hard Rock Café. There was just like all these stars and all these athletes with money, and here I am sitting at a table with Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Reggie Dent, and Deion Sanders. I got like 15 dollars in my pocket, but they’re all treating me like I’m the star because I run the strip club. So after the party was over, everybody jumped in limos and went straight to Magic City, right behind me. I’m with like 20, 25 athletes, big time athletes. So when we got to the door, the security guard asked me, “Are they with you?” I 32
(l to r): Nick, Chyna Doll, Reggie, Zyoos, and Summer
had this huge smile on my face like, “Yeah, they’re all with me.” It was incredible! That was the best time I ever had in the strip club business. That’s a story for the grandkids. So what is the most difficult part of owning a strip club? Zeus and Nick: The women! [laughs] Nick: You gotta understand, they’re still women, regardless of what they’re doing in life, these ladies are still women and they all have a different mentality, a different attitude, a different background; and everybody has a problem. You more or less have to be a big brother, or father, or something they never had. You listen to them a lot and you learn a lot about women. I figure if you can run a strip club, you can do anything in the world. What are some of the common problems the women at your club have? Zeus: Just the drama that happens between them. Nick: Competition. And the competition is for money now, its not like you’re trying to win a trophy or something. These girls are in here trying to make a living. So they have every kind of problem you can think of; everything. You gotta kinda brush an ego or two here or there and let them know it’s gonna be alright. It’s almost like being a coach; you handle a little bit of everything. What is the average age of the girls that work at your club? Zeus: The youngest girl is 19, but the average age is about 25. Why do you think rappers and the hip-hop culture is so infatuated with strip clubs? Zeus: Where is most music broke at? It’s broke in the strip club, because they’re open 7 days a week and people are constantly in there. Back in the day it was just a man thing, but now you got both. You got just as many women coming in here just to hang out and they’re all constantly hearing that music. Plus, people go in there to stunt, to see who is spending the most money, who has the most jewelry, you know. What kind of money can you actually make from owning a strip club? Nick: [laughs] After taxes, and paying everybody and buying liquor and beer, it’s not as much as people think. People don’t realize we pay taxes, I call it organized pimpin’ except we pay taxes. Most strippers don’t pay taxes; but we pay employee taxes, liquor taxes, sales taxes. If you make $40,000 a month, you might come out with about $15,000, you might. What do you guys think the all time best strip club songs are? Zeus: I’m gonna give T-Pain his props for that “In Luv Wit a Stripper.” Nick: You gotta give Luke props. Play Luke’s stuff now and it’ll still jump. Zeus: Luke is number one. Ying Yang Twins got some good ones, and Lil Jon came out with a good one too. What kind of criteria do you look for in potential dancers at your club? Nick: We’re just looking for a nice looking young lady that’s eager to learn. Somebody who is pretty and outgoing, cause you need that personality. She doesn’t necessarily have to be talented, cause most of the girls that have never danced before learn it in like two weeks. Do you guys ever get bored with looking at naked girls? Zeus: You never get tired at looking at that. Nick: Is that a trick question? - Eric Perrin