THE DYING SOCIAL CLUB: THE SELLING OF THE ASSETS WAS ONLY THE START
Selling the concert room, the car park and other assets may have brought much-needed cash into struggling clubs, but it was only the beginning of the problems.
The smoking ban, which came later, wasn’t necessarily the death blow many people assume. Clubs adapted. Attitudes towards smoking were changing anyway, and many found ways to provide outdoor smoking areas. In some ways, it even gave clubs an opportunity to freshen themselves up, decorate the tired interiors and make the surroundings more welcoming.
But something much bigger was happening.
People’s habits were changing.
Slowly but surely, the way people spent their leisure time was evolving. Entertainment was no longer something you had to leave the house to find. Television was becoming more interactive, home entertainment was improving, and eventually smartphones would put music, entertainment and social interaction in people's pockets.
At the same time, the cost of going out was rising.
Drink prices in clubs increased as breweries demanded more, and those rising costs were inevitably passed on to the customer. As the cost of living increased, a night out at the local club was becoming something many people simply couldn't afford as regularly as they once had.
Then another change arrived — the culture of eating out.
Pubs had already begun diversifying, and chains such as Wetherspoons found a successful formula: affordable food, reasonably priced drinks and a reason to spend more time in the pub. The traditional social club was no longer competing just with the club down the road; it was competing with an entirely different leisure experience.
And then came the desire to be outdoors.
People increasingly wanted somewhere bright, comfortable and welcoming to sit outside, socialise and enjoy a drink. The traditional dark, tired-looking bar was beginning to feel like yesterday's world.
By the late 1990s, all of these changes were coming together.
Club Membership was falling, fewer younger people were joining. Income was shrinking, costs were rising and the old ways of attracting customers were no longer working as they once had.
In the 1990s the number of clubs began to fall dramatically.
But not every club disappeared.
Some adapted. Some changed their business model. Some found new ways to bring people through the doors.
And those clubs that survived...They had a story of their own.