BANGOR, Maine — A little more than six months after Diva’s closed up shop at 190 Harlow St., a new gentleman’s club opened Friday evening at the site.
Diamonds opened at 6 p.m. for business at the same location with expanded space, more performers and a different decor.
“It looks nothing like it did last month with all the construction going on,” said Jimmie Ellis, the spokesman for ownership group Arayos LLC and a professional men’s club planner and designer. Ellis said nearly $375,000 — $60,000 on wiring and plumbing alone — was spent on remodeling, renovating and improving the club, which was expanded from 2,000 to 6,600 square feet and now has a maximum capacity of 150 people.
“This is a great space, but it’s needed a lot of work. We literally gutted it, took a divider wall down, and doubled the size of the space,” Ellis said. “It’s all about comfort and developing credibility for the club.”
Jeff Austin, licensing and compliance supervisor for the Maine Department of Public Safety’s Liquor Licensing and Inspection Division, confirmed that a liquor license for Diamonds was approved and issued Friday.
The club had an open house for vendors and workers Thursday.
Regular business hours will be noon to 2 a.m. Monday-Friday. The cover charge is $7 per person.
Oh nice Another high profile place just what we need. I remember when debs downstairs opened . Thier was no fuss out of site to the general public. The Divas opened and all the hype that goes with it. Not saying I approve of places like this . But really in that location they should keep a low profile if at all.
I give it, oh, a couple of years tops!
Not saying I have never been in a strip joint when I was young ,But please keep it out of site and out of mind people have kids. The drugs and crap that go along with it is not a good thing.
You type as if you have something to hide.
Nothing to hide lol
Don’t you mean a couple of years without tops !
Is it the New Governorahs Hang Out?
monday to friday?
Really, I thought that also. What about Saturday nights ? That seems like the best night for business for this kind of establishment.
Good luck to this new business, I mean it. Now for some friendly advice, take it or leave it:
You are going to need a different business model if you are going to make it in this part of the world, as you are sure to discover. The clients you are going to attract around here are not going to be interested in granite, private booths, or cover charges. In fact, your clients are going to find granite counters to be alienating (spending thousands of dollars on counters seems wasteful and foreign to Mainer’s. It’s s0mething that “people from away” would do, at least to the demographic that you are trying to reach).
You’d be better off if you built a nice looking club out of scraps and proudly described your work to others, showing them how you made a new bar for very little money. Mainer’s value the ability of someone to make something out of nothing. People who spend money on new things (like granite counters) are viewed as suckers in Maine. Really.
Also, you may want to consider a plan to escape from your lease on this downtown, heavily-policed, City-Council-monitored, tainted-by-Diva’s spot. You’d be well advised to move into a double wide on the Carmel or Dixmont or Hermon or Newport or better yet, Howland town line. Instead, you’ve moved into a niche market that is largely unwelcome to the city bosses and the general public, for that matter.
The single guys (and married one’s for that matter) who are willing to shell out a $7 cover and are willing to risk being seen by someone in this very small community, are incredibly rare. You are not going to get married guys with disposable incomes in a community this small. It won’t happen. That leaves you with an actual client base of hard working, hands-on guys, who want to tie one on and see some girls, without spending money that they don’t have and don’t think they should have to pay. They have to drive home, which is probably 20 miles away, so they won’t be doing much drinking, at least in a bar. They’ll catch a few sights and then home for a night cap of Allens and a smoke.
I don’t believe you could draw a crowd of 150 paying customers at a strip club in Downtown Bangor, on a weeknight, if you were giving admission away.
I’m not even sure you could draw that crowd if you were giving $20’s away. You need to visit Judy’s, Raena’s , the Tavern and the New Waverly. There you’ll find your client base. Then you’ll need to find a way to pry them away from the bars that they’ve visited since the dawn of time. And they won’t go to one run by “someone from away”. Cue the crickets.
My thoughts kind of.
The thing is they already pumped the cash into it making it prettier then the dancers. can you say STUPID. Now they need to be reassessed big time.
There aint no way these morons care. This always could be a front and it is a good one. Think about it.
Now I aint suggesting money laundering but if you were going to do it you would be in a business that sold services, not goods, reducing the ability to prove revenue. Plus, a start up intstead of an established revenue stream and tax return make it even better.
Either that or they really think they are going to get a return and if thats the case then the owners are about as bright as the girls. A fool and his money will soon be parted.
I usually disagree with you on everything, but that was well done. Funny and prescient.
very well said!!!
My ex-wife will be there hoping to pick up the left-overs.
They must be banking on the Hollywood Casino crowd. New people from out of town with more money to spend. We’ll see.
Is there a name on the liquor license?
I wonder how many “Gentlemen” will show up from downtown Main Street, First Street, Court Street? And several other “local” streets in the area…
At $7 to get in? Not many. That $7 that COULD be used for bath salts, my friend…
He will take food stamps and cash welfare checks to get them in there.
Who cares!
Wonder how those living at Bangor School House or better yet Franklin Place condos will like having more trash to look at in the early hours of the am. Sucks to be them.
Then they should remove the mirrors in their ivory towers.
Far from Ivory Towers! That is no place for a “Gentlemans Club”…using the word loosely. Why not put a club like that on the outskirts of town where no people live. Why disturb people in their homes ?
It’s been attempted already. Remember when a company wanted to develop the former Pilot’s Grill into a gents club? Initiall the City Council approved it, but the Christian right leaned leaned on them and every one of them caved. The argument was that children go to the little bowling alley across Hildreth Street. As we all know, strip bars love to send nude women across the road to lure unsuspecting children into their establishments. Please.
There are no walls surrounding the club? Is the building all glass? How are they disturbing you in you’re home? Have you got a pole in your living room? Instead of looking out the window facing the club, look out the window that offers a view of your neighbors house.
I do not live there in the condos. They are beyond my reach. However, I feel bad for those who do and the loud music and the goings on outside the building does make loud noise..at least the old scummy club did. AND then you get the riff raff that hangs out there..speaking of the old club. We will have to wait to see what kind of clientele this one attracts. I think it will be the same. Also when you pay the price for those condos and the taxes you should be able to look out any window you please.
Look, I am settled down and don’t frequent strip joints. Not any more. But when I did, I found it was good, hard working guys that put the dollars down. Most not married, most not even cheating on a girlfriend. For some reason, guys love a beautiful female body. And on the flip side, females love to be thought of as beautiful woman. It’s win win, so long as it’s a classy joint, which it sound as though this one is.
Where are all the “Great work, hope you make it” comments, and the ones that say “Good luck, thanks for creating some jobs” comments?
Well….here goes. Welcome to the area, glad you are providing jobs, and wish you the best of luck.
Hope you don’t have any daughters who’d like a job there…
Nope, all the kids are grown and already launched in their chosen careers…five girls, two boys; real happy the college years are done and the last wedding is in April. We have a cross section of professions ranging from teachers, stay at home parent, aircraft electrical engineer, and Marine – but no adult entertainers.
And how much are the watered down drinks?
With everything going on in the world, this is like a flea on a horse – who cares? It’s a place where sleazy women can dance and guys can get their rocks off.
So is this part of the many jobs LePlague is creating? Not impressed.
Lepage derangement syndrome. Move along people, nothing to see here.
“LePagement Syndrome” ?
who said anything about LaPage and who made this about LaPage. I am commenting on the article.
Great, another trashy strip club that no one can go to. Bangor is not a good place for this kind of business.
O boy I’m a going wooo finally!!
lets see, drugs,trouble drunks all because of this club. hey wake up, its already all over bangor, at least now you have a place to blame it on, i m not into these places personally, but you know what, i can just drive by and it dont bother me. all these do gooders, i wonder how much porn. you folks have loaded on your computers
He’s not gonna find any workers if he is requiring drug tests.
Just a couple dings, read carfully.
Expect the population of fat old men with greased hair and coke bottle glasses in Bangor to go up drastically. This establishment and kenduskeag ave. will piggyback off each other pretty good. I come back to Bangor from time to time and always check out the new spots. Then by the time I come back to visit again all the new spots are shut down. This place will close too. There aint no way a 7- cover charge will pay back 350+K worth of wiring, plumbin and lumbah.
Note City OFFICIALS. If these “gentlemen” dumped 350k into that building then they had better be reassessed for their tax bill. They need to pay much more in taxes, as we all would, if they made drastic improvements to th property.
Anyone know what the property taxes aer on that beautiful building now? I would think with that much capital thy should atleast double. Let’s invstigate.
The next time I am back in good ole Bangeerrr I am going to a city council meeting to raise the subject. Anyone else want to join me?
“This establishment and kenduskeag ave.”
I think you have Kenduskeag Avenue confused with Valley Avenue.
so you have issues with old people?sounds like maybe if you don’t live in bangor then don’t worry about it,and remember you will be old someday lets hope people are more tolerant of you then you are of them,remember fat old men are people too.
Nah, I don’t have an issue with old people, just fat old men that are pervs.
Do you pay property taxes on the trailor that you RENT?
Nope, me live in the mountains distillinnn moonshine. Me guess is you in mamas basement!
Nope. I keep my Mommy in the basement! C’mon over and bring a jug. I’ll introduce you to my Ma.
Ok, I’ll come over. I cant remember, was it First st. or Second St. you lived on?
Nah,
Forget it, I’m gonna stay away from northern Maine for a bit.
I will be up to go to a city council meeting though. Maybe see you there.
Oh dear! 911 address change hasn’t made it here yet. No street names. But it’s the driveway right after the big pine tree. You can’t miss it. Ma says hi.
(You payin’ taxes on the ‘shine?)
sure
$375,000 on plumbing and wiring?? Check your numbers or proof-read your articles BDN
The article said $60K for plumbing and wiring, $375K total.
I wonder if the Mayor was in attendance for the ribbon cutting and plaque presentation ceremony? Bangor means Business! Oops thats Brewer—my bad
The same Mayor who is afraid to live in his house on West Broadway, because it is a scary neighborhood!
lol, point of correction. Bangor doesn’t have a Mayor remember.
Someone should open a “Drug Addicts Club” offering specialized rooms for sniffing, snorting, shooting, huffing and smoking and it would fill to capacity every night in Bangor. Wednesdays could be “No cover charge night” for transients and the homeless, catered by Manna, and on Friday nights offer “Community Dance Night” that would welcome our MI and MR Communities with music supplied by The Salvation Army Band, sponsered by Monster Inc., with free energy drinks for everyone. Now that’s a business plan!
I’d like to know why they call it a” gentlemen’s” club? a REAL gentleman wouldnt exploit women like that. they should call it a pervert club LOL
Call 1-800-BOO-HOOO
Is it the men exploiting the women, OR, is it the women exploiting themselves? Some women like the attention.
They aren’t being exploited, they are being paid and choosing to do it.
How about real men wouldn’t act like panting dogs. All it is, is a place to go see women in thongs and tassles on thier boobies. Put a “classy” spin on it by over emphasizing the granite bar @@, and call it a gentlemen’s club. Gross! The few that want that crap around here aren’t going to sustain them for long.
I dont care for this club opening, for a lot of reasons, but, using the argument that it exploits women for why it should not exist is futile.
Do you think this company will employ ANY woman who feels exploited? of course not, they are not going to want the females they employ to go around telling potential customers the company they work for exploits them. No one is forcing them to work there.
Yup, maybe the guys who go there are panting dogs, but that doesn’t make the women exploited, maybe perhaps it makes them feel in control and powerful, who knows, we should ask a female employee how she feels instead of speaking for them and labeling them as exploited!
I agree with you. I don’t feel like the women are exploited by men or their employer. The women are exploiting themselves. Even though one is getting something from the other (sexual entertainment for the men, money for the women), it is still degrading for both. Like anything, it’s all in how you want to “look” at it. It doesn’t matter what I think really, I just think it’s gross all the way around.
I guess even though I think its gross a lot of folk will think it is awesome. I am thankful I don’t live near it so I don’t have to see it, but I don’t think the “out of sight out of mind” adage will work, because it will have repercussions.
I am willing to see what happens I guess. Bangor HAS to grow, and evolve, and become more than it is now, it is so stale and stagnant.
It’s a place for losers. How sad.
Finally, a place for the high rollers from Hollywood Slots, oh excuse me, Hollywood Casino, to go after they make 50 bucks at the blackjack table!
You mean lose $50 at the blackjack table.
Bookstores closing and this opening.
*sigh*
My Uncle B always said”The difference between a Maina’h and a Flatlanda’h is that a Flatlanda’h brags about how MUCH money he spent on something,and a Maina’h brags about how LITTLE money he spent.” During y lifetime,Ive seen this to be true.
When I hit 18 (the drinking age) these places actually had women without clothes on with a $5 cover and were full of men and the dancers were game to make a little extra. My bubbies and I went once or twice a week till we figured out that the other clubs were more fun with the dancing and women to take to the car and drinks cost the same price, cheaper then tipping dancers. Of course we also went to NYC for the hardcore shows too. Oh the good ole days. It would be a cold day in H*** before I’d go to Diamonds, over priced drinks and women with clothes on LOL suckers that’s all they are.
“my bubbies”?
I see a CLOSED sign in the near future.
Just what I want to do pay $7.00, to enter a place to buy over priced drinks that will be watered down and probably see local “not attractive” women dancing….hello i can pay $3.00 and go to Barnaby’s and see the same thing.
Thing is: they are planning on bringing in new girls every now and then from other clubs they own. Diamond’s does a ‘tour’ with their employees, so the view stays fresh. It isn’t like Divas recycling the high school drop outs.
By all means..no one is forcing u to go to a different club. You are free to continue being ignored by the city’s “not attractive” women at Barnaby’s.
Just another Diva’s from what I have heard; onlly worse.
I hope the Divorce Courts are open….
Well, I guess we are open for business: whores and prostitutes.
theres a difference???
Bada Bing.
I am definately not a prude, but this is probably teh last thing we need here. It has absolutely no value to Bangor or it’s business community.
will they actually be able to strip naked? and what are the hrs for sat and sunday?