On New Year's Eve, the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip will charge a basic cover of $50, or $100 with drinks and other goodies included. Venues on the Sunset Strip and in Hollywood are cutting cover charges and drink prices to draw partygoers. The beat is slowing on the Sunset Strip, muffled by a less-than-festive economy.
For the first time in years, clubs in this night-life mecca on Sunset Boulevard and nearby will be ringing in 2009 on Wednesday by slashing cover charges or offering special incentives, such as open bars and free hors d'oeuvres. A night out on New Year's Eve will still cost a premium, of course, but many club operators say they are purposely keeping a lid on prices even though they might be able to charge more.
“We need to understand that we're not the only ones in this game, and not just for today," said Arich Berghammer, a partner in the Viper Room in West Hollywood. “The economy is really making people more discriminating. If you're not careful, you can screw them for one night and suffer for the future if they pay it now but then never come back."
Berghammer said the Viper Room considered setting New Year's Eve ticket prices around $200 but opted instead for a basic cover of $50, or $100 with drinks and other goodies included. The less extravagant tone for New Year's reflects the big hit that nightclubs have taken in the yearlong recession.
More than half the nation's 50,000 or so clubs, bars and dance halls had their last call in 2008, said J.C. Diaz, chairman of the National Club Industry Assn. of America. Most of those that closed were smaller neighborhood venues, he said, but bigger clubs are also feeling the pinch. “Bottle service dropped as soon as the word 'recession' hit news wires," Diaz said. At $6 to $8, drinks at the famed Whisky-a-Go-Go are a relative bargain, noted general manager Tisa Mylar. But even at those prices, customers are spending less.
“They might have one, but if they feel it's overpriced, they won't buy two," she said. “They don't want to feel like they have to spend every penny they have when they just want to have a good time. But I don't want people to drink beforehand in parking lots when they can have whiskey at the Whisky." Frequent clubgoers such as 28-year- old Charlotte Barry of Beverly Hills are looking for ways to economize.
Though she still goes dancing once a week, the advertising account executive will usually have her first drink at home so she won't have to spend so much on cocktails. She arrives earlier, before bouncers start charging cover, and keeps an eye out for nights when women are admitted free of charge.
Especially on weeknights, the clubs she patronizes are looking emptier, she said. And after witnessing several rounds of layoffs at her agency, she's not in the mood to throw money around.
“I'm cutting back just as a precaution, because the general economy may go down to where I'll start feeling it in my paycheck," Barry said, as she left an uncrowded Cabana Club in Hollywood around midnight one recent Friday. “People are preparing for the worst and are more cognizant of needing to save."
Club owners and party promoters say they've definitely gotten the message. Party planner Justin Saka of Go Productions LA says he has seen a drop-off in attendance at the parties his company and others stage at various Hollywood-area venues.
At least three local party promoters have shut down this fall, and others have teamed up to stay afloat, he said. For the last three New Year's Eves, Saka said, he promoted events that drew 2,500 people and cost at least $100 a head, not including drink prices.
But this year, “people are hurting," so he's expecting just 800 people at a party he's staging at the El Rey Theatre in the Miracle Mile district. He's charging just $75, and that includes an open bar. “There's more supply than demand," he said. “There are a lot of clubs in Hollywood right now, and a lot of them are struggling."
For the first time in years, clubs in this night-life mecca on Sunset Boulevard and nearby will be ringing in 2009 on Wednesday by slashing cover charges or offering special incentives, such as open bars and free hors d'oeuvres. A night out on New Year's Eve will still cost a premium, of course, but many club operators say they are purposely keeping a lid on prices even though they might be able to charge more.
“We need to understand that we're not the only ones in this game, and not just for today," said Arich Berghammer, a partner in the Viper Room in West Hollywood. “The economy is really making people more discriminating. If you're not careful, you can screw them for one night and suffer for the future if they pay it now but then never come back."
Berghammer said the Viper Room considered setting New Year's Eve ticket prices around $200 but opted instead for a basic cover of $50, or $100 with drinks and other goodies included. The less extravagant tone for New Year's reflects the big hit that nightclubs have taken in the yearlong recession.
More than half the nation's 50,000 or so clubs, bars and dance halls had their last call in 2008, said J.C. Diaz, chairman of the National Club Industry Assn. of America. Most of those that closed were smaller neighborhood venues, he said, but bigger clubs are also feeling the pinch. “Bottle service dropped as soon as the word 'recession' hit news wires," Diaz said. At $6 to $8, drinks at the famed Whisky-a-Go-Go are a relative bargain, noted general manager Tisa Mylar. But even at those prices, customers are spending less.
“They might have one, but if they feel it's overpriced, they won't buy two," she said. “They don't want to feel like they have to spend every penny they have when they just want to have a good time. But I don't want people to drink beforehand in parking lots when they can have whiskey at the Whisky." Frequent clubgoers such as 28-year- old Charlotte Barry of Beverly Hills are looking for ways to economize.
Though she still goes dancing once a week, the advertising account executive will usually have her first drink at home so she won't have to spend so much on cocktails. She arrives earlier, before bouncers start charging cover, and keeps an eye out for nights when women are admitted free of charge.
Especially on weeknights, the clubs she patronizes are looking emptier, she said. And after witnessing several rounds of layoffs at her agency, she's not in the mood to throw money around.
“I'm cutting back just as a precaution, because the general economy may go down to where I'll start feeling it in my paycheck," Barry said, as she left an uncrowded Cabana Club in Hollywood around midnight one recent Friday. “People are preparing for the worst and are more cognizant of needing to save."
Club owners and party promoters say they've definitely gotten the message. Party planner Justin Saka of Go Productions LA says he has seen a drop-off in attendance at the parties his company and others stage at various Hollywood-area venues.
At least three local party promoters have shut down this fall, and others have teamed up to stay afloat, he said. For the last three New Year's Eves, Saka said, he promoted events that drew 2,500 people and cost at least $100 a head, not including drink prices.
But this year, “people are hurting," so he's expecting just 800 people at a party he's staging at the El Rey Theatre in the Miracle Mile district. He's charging just $75, and that includes an open bar. “There's more supply than demand," he said. “There are a lot of clubs in Hollywood right now, and a lot of them are struggling."
