Penthouse Magazine opens new strip club in Reno Nevada
The Penthouse Club, a multimillion-dollar adult entertainment venue on the site of a previous strip club, opens tonight in southeast Reno.
It's the first club in the West for Penthouse men's magazine -- an effort to open a franchise in Las Vegas in 2008 failed -- and it has 100 non-dancing employees and 100 "Key Girl" entertainers, floor host Kevin Beachboard said.
Penthouse has opened 14 sites worldwide in the past decade, he said, adding the Reno-Tahoe region is ready for what he describes as an "extremely high end" club open to those 21 years old and older.
"The Key Girls will wear gowns. They don't walk around in their underwear," Beachboard said.
"It's all about hospitality," he said. "It's what makes us stand above the rest."
The owners held two job fairs last summer, he said, and more than 1,500 applicants showed up for employment opportunities in the club, which has a full-service restaurant, two bars, lounges, suites, three stages and valet parking. There is no gaming on the premises.
The 10,000-square-foot club, at 1060 Telegraph St. east of Terminal Way near Reno-Tahoe International Airport, is the site of the former Goldfinger's club.
"We gutted the whole place," Beachboard said. "We've put close to $18 million into the place with furniture made in Italy and glass stages and dancing booths and something like 30 TVs, including an 85-inch big screen."
He said entrance fees will be competitive: $20 on weekends and $10 on weekdays.
And for locals who sign up for the "775 Club" card, he said, entry charges will be half-off before 7 p.m., with points accrued from bar and restaurant spending that can be used toward discounts.
He said the Key Girl entertainers are considered independent contractors whose charges for lap dances are separate.
"They're 'P-E's,' professional entertainers, not strippers," Beachboard said. "It's a clean club. There's no hanky-panky going on."
