Hustler Club
Encyclopedia
The Hustler Club is a series of bars and chain of go-go clubs owned by Hustler
magazine publisher Larry Flynt
.
in 1964 where he had served as a radar operator. After this stint in the Navy
he worked in manufacturing jobs including one at a General Motors
factory in Dayton, Ohio
. In 1965, with $1,800 in savings, he made a down payment on a bar in one of Dayton's working-class neighborhoods. He specifically targeted working class patrons for his new bar by setting up horseshoe stakes and picnic tables and naming it Hillbilly Haven. Because of this, Flynt exponentially increased the bar's sales. By the end of 1965, Flynt was able to buy a second bar, and, the following year, a third. Both were similar in approach and customer base to Hillbilly Haven.
Flynt opened a fourth bar named Whatever's Right. He purposely made this bar different from his earlier ventures. He sought to make this bar a "more elegant atmosphere" and geared it more to affluent and upscale male patrons. The club featured a dance floor and attractive hostesses whose job was to dance with patrons. This dancing hostesses were a huge success. In 1968, Flynt took this hostess idea a step further by opening the first Hustler Club which features semi-clothed girls. He figured that if fully clothed girls resulted in good sales, then semi-clothed girls would make great sales. His thoughts were right and the one Hustler Club in Dayton quickly creating a chain of clubs with the same name in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, and Akron. Flynt sold his first two bars to focus on his Hustler Clubs and by early 1970, he had eight clubs and 300 employees.
. A year into publishing Hustler
the magazine was grossing more than $500,000 per issue. Later that same year with publishing profits far surpassing those of the Hustler Clubs, Flynt decided to get out of the bars business and be a publisher full time.
began to license the Hustler Club name for new clubs across the country. At the opening of Hustler Club - San Francisco in March 2002 where Flynt was in attendance he said "there's a difference between style and class. We want this club to be about class." Which mirrors his aspirations for the original Hustler Club decades ago. Currently there are Hustler Clubs in 6 states and 3 countries.
Hustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...
magazine publisher Larry Flynt
Larry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications . In 2003, Arena magazine listed him as the number one on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list....
.
Early Hustler Clubs
Flynt was discharged from the NavyNavy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
in 1964 where he had served as a radar operator. After this stint in the Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
he worked in manufacturing jobs including one at a General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
factory in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. In 1965, with $1,800 in savings, he made a down payment on a bar in one of Dayton's working-class neighborhoods. He specifically targeted working class patrons for his new bar by setting up horseshoe stakes and picnic tables and naming it Hillbilly Haven. Because of this, Flynt exponentially increased the bar's sales. By the end of 1965, Flynt was able to buy a second bar, and, the following year, a third. Both were similar in approach and customer base to Hillbilly Haven.
Flynt opened a fourth bar named Whatever's Right. He purposely made this bar different from his earlier ventures. He sought to make this bar a "more elegant atmosphere" and geared it more to affluent and upscale male patrons. The club featured a dance floor and attractive hostesses whose job was to dance with patrons. This dancing hostesses were a huge success. In 1968, Flynt took this hostess idea a step further by opening the first Hustler Club which features semi-clothed girls. He figured that if fully clothed girls resulted in good sales, then semi-clothed girls would make great sales. His thoughts were right and the one Hustler Club in Dayton quickly creating a chain of clubs with the same name in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, and Akron. Flynt sold his first two bars to focus on his Hustler Clubs and by early 1970, he had eight clubs and 300 employees.
Hustler Clubs Closing
Flynt began publishing the Hustler Newsletter containing information about his various clubs. By 1974 the Hustler Newsletter had morphed into the full fledged magazine, HustlerHustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...
. A year into publishing Hustler
Hustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...
the magazine was grossing more than $500,000 per issue. Later that same year with publishing profits far surpassing those of the Hustler Clubs, Flynt decided to get out of the bars business and be a publisher full time.
Hustler Club, a re-birth
For close to 30 years the Hustler Club name lay dormant. In the early aughts, Larry Flynt PublicationsLarry Flynt Publications
Larry Flynt Publications, or LFP, Inc., runs the adult entertainment empire founded by Larry Flynt. Founded in 1976, two years after Flynt began publishing Hustler magazine, LFP was originally to serve as the parent company of this magazine....
began to license the Hustler Club name for new clubs across the country. At the opening of Hustler Club - San Francisco in March 2002 where Flynt was in attendance he said "there's a difference between style and class. We want this club to be about class." Which mirrors his aspirations for the original Hustler Club decades ago. Currently there are Hustler Clubs in 6 states and 3 countries.
Current Clubs
- Hustler Club - Redlands, CA
- Hustler Club - San Francisco, CA
- Hustler Club - San Diego, CA
- Hustler Club - Westminster, CA
- Hustler Club - Washington Park, IL
- Hustler Club - New Orleans, LA
- Hustler Club - Baltimore, MD
- Hustler Club - New York, NY
- Hustler Club - Cleveland, OH
- Hustler Club - Paris, FR
- Hustler Club - Melbourne, AU
- Hustler Club - Croydon, London, UK
- Hustler Club - Shreveport, LA
- Hustler Club - Detroit, MI
- Hustler Club - Las Vegas, NV