Economy Slow - Shops Complaining

[altgourami]

Now, I normally frequent several shops (for fear of falling for one particular girl) but I've noticed lately that I am getting messages from bosses to come back and try the shop.

When I ask why I get messages I am always told economy is bad and customers not as many as before.

Maybe I go to quiet shops or maybe it is true that all shops have falling customer numbers... what do you think?

Bros, if you have a favourite shop or three, or a favourite girl (see my warnings elsewhere about having a favourite girl) then make sure you visit regularly to keep the shop open, happy and to be seen as a VIP customer of your favourite shop.

I have three favourite shops:

200/1 Katherine St for massage
4/229 Miller St for long slow F/S bookings
Ginza for hot j-girl service

I try to go to each shop once per week.

It normally costs me about $500 per week with tips.

I am trying to make sure my favourite shops do not dies or the good girls move on to busier shops and leave my favourite bosses.

Try to do same bros while the economy is tight.

[altgourami]

PS I used to see 221/1 Katherine St a lot before I discovered good Thai massage local and I haev only just discovered how good Ginza is - before that I went to 70 Erskine Street or 104 Pacific Highway Roseville - they both lose my custom now.

[Thumper]

havent been to 4/229 for years - Kiki was a favourite - I left when the girls got too old

Any young slim ones these days??

[EvolutionTroll]

How good is Ginza for J girls? I am so keen on trying hot J girls!

[chandra_man1]

everytime i go gf or 5* they are flat out. these shops always have demand. it depends on the quality of service on offer. which are the shops are quiet (without being spcific, is it the $160hour shop or the $350 shops)?

[chandra_man1]

if the shops are quiet tell them to ramp up their marketing by posting things on this site or get one of their wl to open an account to start dialogues, that should drum heaps if interest. remember that Yuki from 22 a few years back?

[Jj999]

Keeping your favourite girl work in one shop is difficult.
You might like her, but other people do not necessarily feel the same way.

And your one visit contributes much less than 5% of her weekly amount of money she gets.
Well, if you tip $1000 in every visit.. Then that's a totally different story.

[altgourami]

I am the fan of shops rather than girls these days.

4/229 has some young girls (Angela, Thursday, Sophia Monday and sometimes other days) - cheap shop $160ph FS
200/1 has average Thai girls focussing on massage and waxing - go to 218 or 221 or 104 if you want to talk girls into FS
Ginza - yes yes yes my favourite shop and great value

5 Star stands alone
Styles - great fun

Out west - MILF heaven with cheap good service in Blacktown but too far to drive.

[Littlewonder]

I am the fan of shops rather than girls these days.

4/229 has some young girls (Angela, Thursday, Sophia Monday and sometimes other days) - cheap shop $160ph FS
200/1 has average Thai girls focussing on massage and waxing - go to 218 or 221 or 104 if you want to talk girls into FS
Ginza - yes yes yes my favourite shop and great value

5 Star stands alone
Styles - great fun

Out west - MILF heaven with cheap good service in Blacktown but too far to drive.

If you like Blacktown then you would probably like 533 Willoughby Road or Taren Point 64 they both have very good girls.

[Sillyboy]

Economy is slow for most businesses so it's not just the sex shops. But some businesses are still thriving as they can give their customers a point of differentiation whether it's good quality service or goods, relationship or existing goodwill equity.

It's up to the shops to do better by getting quality girls, great service and right pricing for them to survive and grow.

Look at 501/532, Ashfield Esplanade, Billy's marrickville - these were all popular joints a couple of years back but business no doubt slowed down mainly as they haven't got the girl talent of before or poor service like from Alice.

Good shops like 5 star continue to do ok although slower than before because they kept the quality and service standards

[DeepImpact]

I am not so sure about shops not being as busy as before. I always believe that good girls and especially NEW girls will always attract customers if they know about it, because it seems like nothing can create as much excitement as a new girl that might be good and being one of the first to try her.

[altgourami]

New girls are busy for a week or so, true.

Shops that spend $$$ on advertising are busy.

There are hundreds of small shops that don't advertise (and shouldn't otherwise they'd close down through council, or just cannot supply a solid line up every day) and those shops are the ones that are hurting. Small shops are often the shops that find hidden gems. For every Ginza star, for example, you'll find a girl who started in dodgy massage or picking up as a freelancer off of Cracker.

Whether or not you think this is a good thing is whether or not you think everyone should eat at McDonalds (which I enjoy) or defend the right of small independent eateries (which I also enjoy).

[altgourami]

533? Don't like the entrance. Shop doesn't appreciate customers (apart from their money) and treat them like shit. The girls of 533 are generally Very Good and I've never had an off punt there.

[Licker]

I always believe that good girls and especially NEW girls will always attract customers if they know about it, because it seems like nothing can create as much excitement as a new girl that might be good and being one of the first to try her.

I agree.

This year I have been the first customer of four new girls at 533. And for couple of others, if not the first, still during their first day.

This probably due the fact that I have actually known about a new girl coming to work.

[IExperiment]

Economy is slow for most businesses so it's not just the sex shops. But some businesses are still thriving as they can give their customers a point of differentiation whether it's good quality service or goods, relationship or existing goodwill equity.

It's up to the shops to do better by getting quality girls, great service and right pricing for them to survive and grow.

Look at 501/532, Ashfield Esplanade, Billy's marrickville - these were all popular joints a couple of years back but business no doubt slowed down mainly as they haven't got the girl talent of before or poor service like from Alice.

Good shops like 5 star continue to do ok although slower than before because they kept the quality and service standards

And Location Location Location. So good girls and Location.

[Sillyboy]

Bro IE not so sure that location is priority. A lot of the shops are in obscure locations that us brothers tend to go out of our way to travel to get there. For some brothers, following their favorite WL/ML means location less so.

Think of 501/532 and Sister shop Liverpool are in odd places but still popular. City shops will always have benefit of convenience but to get to a place like 5 Star, brothers must drive or cab it. 22 Brodie St another popular place - that is a decent drive into the middle of nowhere but still popular. I went to Styles other day and took me forever to find it in some obscure place in Artarmon. Definetely not convenient.

One thing about shops is the more discrete the better for most punters

[IExperiment]

Bro IE not so sure that location is priority. A lot of the shops are in obscure locations that us brothers tend to go out of our way to travel to get there. For some brothers, following their favorite WL/ML means location less so.

Think of 501/532 and Sister shop Liverpool are in odd places but still popular. City shops will always have benefit of convenience but to get to a place like 5 Star, brothers must drive or cab it. 22 Brodie St another popular place - that is a decent drive into the middle of nowhere but still popular. I went to Styles other day and took me forever to find it in some obscure place in Artarmon. Definetely not convenient.

One thing about shops is the more discrete the better for most punters

Yes for 5* to be very succesfull is due to their girls and lots of punters near their location as it might be not near the select few but near many of us :) this is what I mean about their location it cannot be near everyone but majority where it count :) so I guess lucky for most punter who live near their fav Brothel :) so I understand there might be great girl in blacktown but the location for most punters near the CBD might not happen. I did go to the west once a while to see good girls but at the end I go back to my back yard :)

[Littlewonder]

I think its not just that the shops are slow because of a turn down in business but there are so many shops around these days and they are so competitive we have such a choice you dont have to put up with bad service from the girls or the shop. When I started punting many years ago the price was twice what you pay at 533 or 64 and the service no where near as good. To be fair the rooms or premises were generally of a higher standard that is one thing that has deteriorated with the low cost shops.

[project_manager006]

I have thought about the same thing. I went to a shop once, and then the week after I called to make a booking, and the receptionist recognised my voice! I thought, damn, they probably don't have many customers if they remember me after one visit (and no, I do not have a distinctive voice).

[Littlewonder]

I have thought about the same thing. I went to a shop once, and then the week after I called to make a booking, and the receptionist recognised my voice! I thought, damn, they probably don't have many customers if they remember me after one visit (and no, I do not have a distinctive voice).

She might have thought you were a horny looking bloke and had the hots for you thats why she remembered.

[AHLUNGOR]

I think its not just that the shops are slow because of a turn down in business but there are so many shops around these days and they are so competitive we have such a choice you dont have to put up with bad service from the girls or the shop. When I started punting many years ago the price was twice what you pay at 533 or 64 and the service no where near as good. To be fair the rooms or premises were generally of a higher standard that is one thing that has deteriorated with the low cost shops.

I think competition is the biggest massage business killer!!

There is now seems to have a massage shop or Thai massage shop in every street or around the corner in the City, some legit and many of them RnT, it's almost like the business of convenient stores. It will be interesting to see how many will survive this time next year!!

But the problem is we will never know, because even if the shop is in trouble, there is no shortage of new comers who has the money to invest and take over any existing MS business. Have you ever seen a Chinese restaurant close down for good?? It always reopen with a new operator !!

Cheers

[altgourami]

Yes - one of my favourite easy-to-fine Chinese restaurants, funnily enough named Chequers, closed down a year or so ago and it is sitll vacant for lease. That shop was always busy, too.

[Sillyboy]

You can't compare a massage shop to a chinese restaurant.*A restaurant has much bigger overhead costs with rent, staff, utility outgoings and food. The fixed setup costs of a place are much higher with renovations and equipment.*Their margin is so much lower than a massage shop.*

Overheads for a massage shop are very low compared to many *businesses hence if they can get the punters in, then it can be very profitable.*

Key daily expenses are rent, electricity & water, towels, oils, tissues, disposable sheets, rubbish.*The fixed setup costs of a place are also pretty low too unless the owner spent huge amounts on renovation but even then relatively low with massage beds, some furniture, limited reno for paint & rooms, air conditioning and a kitchen for staff.*The girls aren't paid on a retainer - only by their cut for their job hours so no customer, no pay or tips so generally speaking a shop owner only has $200 + rent as outgoing expenses per week. Plenty of places like Newtown, Stanmore, Burwood have cheap rent for $500-$700 per week. City shops will have a higher rental depending on location.*

So if the shop does a decent # of customers ie 30-40+ jobs per day, *then you can do the maths and work out how profitable a shop can be with $700-$1000 weekly expenses.*

In its heyday, Newtown was doing 50+ jobs daily, Alice shop around 40+ and the one to top it all the old Burwood Billy shop must have been doing 80+ jobs per day!*

A restaurant doing that sort of profit would have to be one of the bigger decent popular restaurants with a investment over $300-$500k compared to a massage shop that probably cost $20k to setup.*

[Sillyboy]

Altgourami bro - that Chequers restaurant was on the market for sale for a knockdown price of $200k only. It closed down as the expenses to run the place were far too high to be sustainable as the patronage numbers were dropping too.

[bill_100]

I think its not just that the shops are slow because of a turn down in business but there are so many shops around these days and they are so competitive we have such a choice you dont have to put up with bad service from the girls or the shop. When I started punting many years ago the price was twice what you pay at 533 or 64 and the service no where near as good. To be fair the rooms or premises were generally of a higher standard that is one thing that has deteriorated with the low cost shops.

I agree with LW, the economy in general has slowed in the Eastern states at least. Retail is suffering, true unemployment is growing as people are shifted onto part time work. The true cost of living is increasing so everyone has less disposable income and need to target that on essential items . That means that discretionary spending needs to be cut back.

Add to that the number of brothels there are which causes a lot of competition. Some of the shops have reduced their prices in order to attract new customers so I would not be surprised if some tried to contact people if they have a number to try to get visits.