Market Snapshot with Brendon Carlington
Hey guys and gals and welcome to the first installment of Market Snapshot. A series in which I examine different markets in our industry with the help of fellow Pandas. While the duties of a DJ and the overall operations of a club at the basics seem to be the same everywhere things like local laws and demographics can change these things. I hope through this journey we can, see trends that effect the business, learn about different markets to get a greater understanding of the industry as a whole and to meet new Pandas and make some new friends along the way. Thanks to the enormous amount of information from fellow Panda, Sam Stucky, this week we are looking at the Metro Oklahoma City area.
Statistics
- Population: 1.3 Million
- Median Household Income: $55k per year
- Median Home Price: $156k
- Unemployment: 3.7%
- Number of clubs: 35-40
- Clubs per capita: roughly 1 per 32,000 people
Overview
Being #60 on Forbes “2017 Best places for Business and Careers” OKC has a lot going for it. Having a cost of living 5% below the national average while maintaining a median household income with a couple thousand dollars of the national average. It has help from a couple major industries including one of the largest livestock markets and the world and energy industries such as oil, natural gas, etc. Oklahoma City is also home to multiple colleges and universities, most notably the University of Oklahoma. The city also received a huge boost in the form of its first major sports team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. While all of this may seem great for local business there are still many challenges that clubs in the industry have to deal with.
Probably the biggest challenge for the local industry is it lies with the America’s beloved Bible Belt. This has created some local laws and ordinances that directly target clubs in the city. In Oklahoma City proper entertainers must wear pasties and all panties must cover three inches of the butt, so no thongs. If you think these laws are extreme google weird laws Oklahoma and you will find a solid 30 minutes of entertainment. Now in the metro area there is an exception, Valley Brook. This one square mile city is home to the states two only juice bars, clubs that don’t serve alcohol but are fully nude, and a handful of other clubs. Crazily enough even though juice bars and thongs are still allowed here entertainers still must wear nipple pasties.
Like most other areas local sports, such as OU football and Thunder games, pretty much shut everything down and you can only hope the local team wins so people come celebrate. The biggest competition according to Sam is the local Native owned casinos. These have been come more popular since neighboring state Texas doesn’t allow gambling.
Most clubs here are on the smaller side running 5-10 dancers on day shift and 10-20 on night shift with a few larger clubs running 10-20 during the day and 30-50 at night. Music format varies club to club some being only rock to other completely urban. One things almost all jocks have in common is they clean the club at the end of the night. You read that right they do actual physical labor (dramatic gasp), though most seem not to mind.
This wraps up the first installment I hope everyone enjoyed it. I can’t thank Sam enough for all of his help and highly suggest you guys check out the podcast he is a part of at www.goininraw.com. If you want me to add any other statistics or have me do article on your market reach out to me on Facebook or email me at Brendoncarlington@gmail.com. Until next time may your tips be large and your parties be wild!
I found my information at the following websites (so you know I’m not a big fat liar)
Censusreporter.org
Forbes.com
Brendon Carlington has been in the industry for 5 years starting as a VIP host in Kalamazoo, Mi. He has worked for the Deja Vu chain his whole career in 7 different clubs across 3 states. He is currently the head DJ at Hustler Detroit. He lives in the metro area with his fiance and hedgehog.
