Hooter's
I've never been to one before and only went today because I was meeting a group of friends from my last job. After all the stuff I've heard about the place, here are my conclusions:
1. The food is ok. It's no better than any other wing/barbecue place. Actually, I'd rather eat at Famous Dave's.
2. The uniforms are bad. Maybe it was just this location, but the skimpy shorts and tank tops looked more like something from Disneyland than a strip club - especially matched with panty hose. After all the flap in the news, I was expecting something more appealing.
3. Worst music ever. They had some horrible mix of top jock hits of the 80's. While we were there, I heard Eye of the Tiger and Danger Zone and all of the other cheezy, pseudo-macho crap you can imagine. (Notable by its absence was Lunatic Fringe, although I'm sure I would have heard it eventually.) Worst of all, it was way louder than it needed to be.
Actually, just as I was leaving, the White Sox game started and the music went down and the game sound came up and I realized why the majority of people were there. It's a sports bar.
I've been getting hair cuts from a place called Sport Clips. I went there once out of convenience (proximity to a Circuit City and Trader Joe's) and because I had a coupon. They actually did a good job in short time. The hook for this place is a big screen TV in the waiting area and smaller TVs at every station broadcasting ESPN. Nothing but sports all the time. "Haircuts for Men."
In this case, the hair stylists (all women) wear sports gear, so the focus isn't on sexy as much as on sports. It is, after all, a family-friendly store. The new catch is their "Triple Play" (can't remember the actual term, but it's a baseball analogy) where you get a haircut, shampoo and scalp massage. I get the feeling that this "special" makes up for a lack of skimpy outfits.
So, it occurs to me that the Hooter's business model is one that makes sense from a marketing perspective. Serve beer, serve sports, serve men's prurient interests - make money. I probably fit their demographic on paper or some spreadsheet, but in reality, I'm miles away. (Except for the beer part.)
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Aside from politics, which I have no brain space for tonight on account of having to deal with my hell-born jackal of a bosslady, I have this to say about Hooters.
1. Don't they wear those nasty shiny "nude" colored hose? Those are so gross. The grossest.
2. Close to Trader Joe's? I'm so there.
I'm telling you - the hose make the whole thing a joke. I'm not sure why a woman would fight to work there, either. (That was where the lawsuits came from, right?)
I would comment on Hooters, ChrisB, but as you know, I'm not into all that feminist crap.
(If I WAS, however, I'd say simply Hooters = big steaming pile of poop).
Shiny hose, yes. Brutal. Chris, you're so on to my plan. I've had an idea for a men's only hair shop and have even gone so far as to develop a business plan modeled on the Sportclips idea. I'd like to take that model, keep the best qualities of it (sports), and add a bit of small town nostalgia/charm to the mix. Kinda like an ESPNZone meets McNally's in St. Charles. I think most guys hate these unisex salons and are looking for places that cater to their tastes. If only I had the guts to do it. Who's ready to go in with me??
uh, hello? Danger Zone!? i think this should have been in your 'plus' column.
I have heard the sultan's "business plan" before and found it insane. Now I find out it was I who was insane.
You could serve beer and call it "The Danger Zone."
Or you could just open a bar and skip the "haircut" portion.
But back before I started losing my--ahem, started cutting my own hair, I do remember a certain "stepping into the ladies' room" apprehension about going into the salon--"unisex" or otherwise. So you might be on to something.
Sultan - there's a men's version of Mario Tricoci in St. Charles already, too. It's an up-scale version of Sport Clips. Good idea - already been done. I do like the idea of skipping the hair and starting a bar. Sugar Grove doesn't have one (save for the sole restaurant's bar) and the population is exploding. We have a Jewel now!!
Tom - Roger that, Goose.
Hey Sultan, no kidding: My good friend's husband tried that! Called it "Shampooters." Pretty girls, "private booths," top o' the line products, TVs w/sports, men's mags, etc. (Nothing went on in the private booths, but the idea was "No more walking from sink to chair w/a towel over yr head--enjoy yr own private booth."
It FLOPPED, massively.
Not to burst yr bubble, honestly, but I had to share. Completely true story.
Hooters looks way too 1980's. That's its biggest problem.
I don't do well in the traditional barbershop. I'm always disapointed. I can deal with the "ladies room" atmosphere of the unisex for as long as I have to be there. Besides, I think they do a good job, and I imagine that they find cutting a guy's hair as a relief from having to deal with picky, bitchy ladies all day. I'm not generalizing, it's just that there's always at least one in there whenever I go, and I feel sorry for those girls who have to put up with it. Besides, it's like being behind enemy lines. You get to listen to them talk about girl things as though you're not even there.
I love going to get my hair 'did'. I'm "kinda friends" with the girl who does it and we chat and talk about music shows and boys and we gossip about who she made out with last night and whether or not Tom and Katie are really broken up and just pretending for our benefit.
And every month they give out new mic CDs. And she doesn't cut my hair like I'm square. She chunks it up and I have about 100 colors in it. Hairdid day is fun!!
No bitching allowed!
But no lapdances and NO shiny "nude" hose. *shiver* I still can't get over those. What do the non caucasions wear?
No one puts Baby in the corner, Di
I'm as creeped out by the shiny hose as I am by fake boobs. To the Old Dog's point, the short shorts are pretty retro already and conjure images of pre-Jordan basketball more than sex.
I didn't notice any non-caucasians at this particular establishment, for the record but I wasn't really looking.
I went to a Hooters once.
I was getting a stereo installed in my Jeep, and needed to kill an hour and a half in Rockville, MD.
I figured that since they were the only restaurant in the strip-mall with beer, that my choice was made.
I was kinda' freaked out at first (the place is fucking spooky - period). But after a couple of beers and a basket of fried clam strips, I was enjoying sitting back and watching all of the suburban douches making asses of themselves with the wait-staff.
I've been tempted to go back for the clam strips (you can't find those things anywhere), but I never do. It's just too fucking creepy.
Holy Shit!
Check out this link detailing a lawsuit against Hooter's:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0414061hooters1.html
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