There's No Sex in the Champagne Room, There's Job Interviews in the Champagne Room, But No Sex

The Foxy Lady in Providence is where I went for my bachelor party.



Nearly 200 potential exotic dancers, DJs, bartenders, bouncers, managers and waitresses attended a first-ever job fair yesterday at the Foxy Lady gentlemen’s club.

In January, with revenues off by 15 percent, Thomas Tsoumas, the nightclub’s co-owner, cut drink prices in half. As a result, traffic increased and 30 more staff are needed at that club and two others in Massachusetts.

“We’re as recession-proof a business as there is, but when it rains everyone gets wet,” said Tsoumas, 68. “We dropped our prices to what they were when we opened in 1979. Now, a beer or a mixed drink cost about $2.75 and business is up again.

With an unemployment rate of 10.3 percent, the naked truth is that Rhode Island’s economy is among the worst in the nation. As a result, potential employees lined up early and were brought into one of several makeshift interview rooms including the Champagne VIP Lounge, the All-Nude Solid Gold Room and the Private Dance Cabana.

Chamika Chandler, a stay-at-home mom from Cranston, R.I., said she’s an aspiring designer who creates exotic dancewear and hopes to get a start in the club as a bartender.

“If I can get my foot in the door tending bar, maybe I’ll get a chance to show my designs to the dancers,” said the redhead in a short green and blue dress.

Chandler has been job hunting for months, but has found that applicants need lots of experience. “I figured I had nothing to lose at the Foxy Lady,” she said. “I’m sure there are a lot of uptight girls that wouldn’t consider a strip club, so here I am.”

Diana Hatch, a 30-year-old single mother from Woonsocket, R.I., was there to fill one of the waitress spots. The Rhode Island College student was one of a handful of hopefuls with nightclub training.

“I worked as a waitress at a gentleman’s club in Texas, and I know what the job entails,” she said.

Steven Mangum, 29, was one of the first to arrive for the job fair. The Providence resident and ex-con wants a job - any job.

“I’ll sweep floors if they want me to,” he said. “I got bills to pay and I recently got out of jail so having a job is important to me.”

Nathaniel Grist, who works at the Woonsocket Area Career and Technical Center, said he’s hoping to land a part-time and summer gig at the Foxy Lady.

“I was a DJ at my college radio station, and I’m trying to get more experience,” he said.

Asked if he had any concerns about working in a place where women remove their clothes, he said, “This is just another place to work, you go in and do your job.”

While most of the applicants were in their late teens and 20s, not everyone fit that demographic.

Karen Bradner, a 50-something office worker from Taunton, who has been unemployed for a year, also filled out an application.

“Today was my first and only time in a strip club,” she said. “And I wasn’t there to be a stripper or a waitress. I was hoping to get an office job, but there are no openings. It’s really dead out there job-wise. I hope things turn around soon.”