I would like to let everyone know that we are going to close the Lounge "nude boys" Saturdays after this weekend. So come on down this weekend, reminisce, mingle, cry, giggle and above all, celebrate as we move on.
*NOTE: We are not closing the Shemale Strippers on Tuesday and Wednesday at all*
Continuing... the "nude boys" portion of Lounge has been very close to my heart since Mandy opened it in December 2003. This is the place where I learned how to be a club manager, where we shot the vast majority of our
Mayhem North adult videos, and where Mandy and I built the foundation for what has now become our own club,
Goodhandy's. I have met so many boys who I just adore as people, and so many great, down-to-earth customers.
When Mandy and I opened Goodhandy's, it was not even in our minds that we would close the Lounge. We figured that I could stay out in Mississauga on Saturdays, and Mandy could run Goodhandy's. But our entire business is based on "Todd and Mandy" - we are ying/yang, we balance each other out, we work so well together. Saturday night is the most important night in the club world, and I have found not being at Goodhandy's to be potentially detrimental to our overall business. There are some things you cannot delegate, and I just don't feel I can manage Goodhandy's without being there on Saturday nights.
Also, let me be perfectly honest (and those who have visited the Lounge know this to be the truth): the Saturday evenings at the Lounge have never been profitable. Mandy and I enjoyed it for so long, but we only made the money from the cover charge. We would see from 15 - 30 customers every night. With rent, and advertising, just do the math, you can figure out that it was obviously not open as a traditional bar business. Mandy and I always looked forward to our Saturday nights, regardless of the money. It was the highlight of our week.
The last month or so at the Lounge I have felt that I have not been able to keep up the momentum that existed when both Mandy and I were there. And I have noticed some of our regular customers have made their visits less frequent. Don't worry, I am not upset, I don't blame you. I have been feeling that I was not able to provide you with the full experience, and upon further reflection, I now know why.
The reason Mandy and I and the customers loved the Lounge was because it was our headquarters for video production. It was the connection between the "offline and online" worlds. It was a place where we would shoot videos before the club opened, and after (and occasionally while it was still open - I can admit that now, after the fact).
But since I have been running the Lounge myself, I have not been shooting videos at that location. We have been doing all of our interviews at Goodhandy's on Wednesdays. It is a much better set-up, I don't have to lug around all my lighting equipment, and it just works better overall. We have an in-club studio, wired to a big-screen, where customers can watch shoots live. We also will eventually be putting this online, so members to AmateurCanadianGuys will be able to watch our club shoots live. The Lounge is housed in someone else's club, and while they have been amazing hosts for us, there are limitations, and we would never be able to accomplish what we want to accomplish out there.
So it is with both sadness and excitement for the future that I announce that this Saturday is the end of an era. I have every intention of keeping this blog online - it is a full archive of an era. Those who have the patience to click all the links to the past archive will realize that there is a complete documentation of almost every single night the Lounge was open, with photos, from day 1. There are probably more than 300 different boys that have come through our doors (this is a total estimate, it could be way more, or a bit less).
I know that this announcement is going to upset some of our regular clientele. There are a handful of you who I know come every single week, and I appreciate that. I will even share a couple of your stories: One kind gentlemen has been coming in every week for at least a year. I never even caught your name, but you told me via e-mail when you first came in that you live in a very very small town, and the Lounge is your only outlet. I don't know if you will have the courage to drive downtown to Goodhandy's, but I certainly hope you will. Jim, you have been coming almost every week, except for recently. I wouldn't be surprised if you stopped coming all the time because of my lack of ability to keep things as amazing as they were when Mandy and I were both there. I'd love to see you downtown sometime, but if you can't make it, I wish you well. Cal and your two friends, it was always a pleasure to see you. And to your Polish friend who you teased because he never tipped me, please know that it NEVER bothered me - I am not the type of person who really cares about that sort of thing. It just made me glad that you had a good time. Daniel, James, Paul, there are so many of you. Most of you I don't know by name, I know you by what you drink, or the type of boys you like.
Anyways, it would be wonderful if you all can make it out this weekend. We will try to put on a really great show, have some drinks, and I am sure a lot of the boys will come by.
And I know that the charm of the Lounge was that it was in the suburbs, close to most of your homes. But keep in mind that Goodhandy's is not that far from the Gardiner Expressway, and it is a lot of fun. And of course don't be surprised if we expand from our current Wednesday night to accomodate other "nude boy" oriented events. Not necessarily right away, but Mandy and I always try to look out for our fans of boys.....
Thanks for all the support, and hope to see you this weekend.
Todd.
PS: And don't be surprised if we hold the occasional "Lounge Reunion" party. Please sign up for my mailing list so that you will be informed of anything like this by visiting this page:
http://www.goodhandys.com/mailingLists.htm
