Encino Gentlemens Club - Update

Barnes & Noble at Hayvenhurst is to close, to be replaced by yet another CVS. This news at last night’s Encino Neighborhood Council produced an audible grown of despair.

So the news that Atlantic Sports Bar & Lounge (previous story here) is transitioning into Mermaids Cabaret by March 5, replete with near-naked pole-dancers must make it seem like the battle to preserve Encino’s way of life has already been lost. The horror.

They’re right of course. Book publishing is collapsing so B&N’s departure should be no surprise. I’m sure the rent had something to do with it, but it’s all too easy to assume because YOU read and buy books that younger generations do too. They don’t. They’re on Facebook and myspace and Twitter which is where you will find Mermaids Cabaret – try here, here and here and their website here.

So, if the Ventura Blvd retail environment is simply awful, should residents still object to Mermaids? Can it bring in new business and a bit of spice to the Strip? Some residents don’t see it that way and they plan to attend the police commission hearing downtown next month on the Club’s application. They don’t have many lines of attack. Since the Club has an alcohol license grandfathered in from the El Torito days, opponents are focusing on what seems like an illegal expansion into the patio area but I predict they will have to resort to the longer term strategy of nuisance abatements instead.