Anyone keeping abreast of this week’s news is aware that Washington continues to be amidst a government shutdown. We truly hope that our Washington-based readers are able to keep afloat and in somewhat decent spirits during this turmoil.
All the talk of shutdown has prompted Ishaan Jajodia to share what happens when a club must shut its doors. He shares that there’s usually three options that seem to arise: a private equity takeover, a merger or members scurrying to find a new club. Our hope always being that our readers find a Gold Standard Club, of course.
Yours truly addresses a slight editorial change: club rats to club cats in this week’s episode of Chatter and brings you Dispatches from Clubland.—LR
What happens when your club shuts down?
It’s been a fortnight since the federal government hasn’t been funded, which is as good a time as any to reflect on what happens when unfortunately you find that your club cannot meet its financial requirements and needs to shut down—forever. The last major spate of club closures happened during the COVID pandemic, which was difficult for many clubs who relied on continuing dues and food and beverage income to stay afloat. You’ve been hit by assessment after assessment, and the club’s finances are the equivalent of being
What, then, should you expect if your club shuts down?
The Private Equity Takeover:
If you’re a Gold Standard Club, some young, slick, polyester-clad chap without a speck of natural fibre on his body will roll along and offer to “buy up” debt in exchange for taking over control of operations and revenue at the club: in other words, the closest thing to a hostile takeover.
There’s a firm, for instance, that promises members whose clubs have been taken over the ability to retain an advisory position, but the club will no longer be member-owned-and-managed, and will lose its gold standard status. Usually, the recapitalisation involves a private equity firm buying up the debt that a club has and acquiring the underlying assets—the clubhouse and facilities—and trying to streamline operations.
You’re probably going to get charged for your club sodas and iced teas and waters in such a scenario, and there’ll be no club president for you to chase down in pursuit of unsolicited and unrequited advice and comments.
While this is, in some ways, a tragic option, there’s little you can do. But, hey, at least your club will still be there, and you can still relive some of its glory days.
Private equity might not be your Club’s style, however, which means that another option might be more fitting. —IJ
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Chatter: Club Cats
What Cats and the Clubbiest People Have in Common
I’m Leonard Robinson, editor of Clubland USA, and this is Chatter.
Close readers of Clubland USA might have noticed a slight editorial change in recent weeks. We have stopped referring to our readers collequailly as club rats and instead have opted for calling them club cats.
There’s a multitude of reasons for this.
Rats, for starters, are vermin, carry disease and are generally unwanted. Clubs and their members (hopefully) share none of these qualities. While rats do linger around like a couple of clubby men to a bar rail, this club cat wants no interaction with rodents of any variety even if the intent is humorous.
Cats, on the contrary, are cute, invoke (mostly) positive emotions, and wanted by many. Further proof of this can be found in how difficult it is to adopt a cat in New York City. Historically, cats were not actually bred by humans but instead were self-domesticated.—LR
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Dispatches from Clubland
Clubland Across the Ponds: Seth Alexander Thevoz, author of London Clubland: A Companion for the Curious and Seth Thevoz’s Clubland Substack, met with Clubland USA in New York last week. The meeting which occurred in a club on the Upper East Side is hopefully the beginning of many such “across the pond” collaborations.
Hebrew at the Harvard Club?: A fascinating read about the influence of Hebrew in the Ivy League—starting with a discussion at a club table at the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan.
Another Club Bites the Dust: This summer saw the end of the University Club of Phoenix which first opened its doors in 1965. “The prestige of being a member of a lunch club kind of dissipated over the years and it made it that much more difficult for us to be able to keep on and keep open,” Barry Aarons, a lobbyist and longtime member said. “It was tough to get members, and frankly, we couldn’t remain alive on just special events and walk-in traffic.”