PALM BEACH--For more and more women in Palm Beach County, the road to economic recovery is paved with garter belts, g-strings and 4-inch plexiglass heels.
Take, Stephanie White, for example. She recently registered to dance at Sugar Daddy's in West Palm Beach. She said she has been looking for a full-time job for more than a year to help support her 2-year-old son, Lawrence.
"They're not hiring," said White, 20. But stripping? "It's something I want to do. Fast money," she said.
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As the local, state and national economy tanked in 2009, more women registered for adult entertainment licenses in Palm Beach County than any year since the program began.
With full-time jobs scarce or simply not enough to pay the bills, many of these women flocked to a handful of local strip clubs that were more than happy to see an influx of potential dancers.
But even the clubs have suffered from the sluggish economy as customers switch from handing out fives and tens to sheepishly dropping singles.
"We have been touched by the economy, but we're still doing well," said Karen Vercher, president of the company that manages the Spearmint Rhino club in West Palm Beach. "Our customer count is
growing, but per-spending is down."
The county's licensing requirement began in 1999 to prevent underage girls from dancing ****. Dancers pay a one-time fee of $75 and receive an identification card. Clubs that employ unlicensed dancers face fines. The dancers face both fines and arrest for working without a license.
Since then, nearly 7,000 women have registered for adult entertainment licenses, almost 1,000 in 2009 alone. There are no male strip clubs registered in Palm Beach County and only a handful of male dancers with licenses.
To get the licenses, dancers walk into the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center's lobby, meet administrative assistant Barbara Willmoth and, as she tells everyone, "smile for the camera.
"Sometimes they come in with little children and it just breaks your heart," said Wilmoth. "You give them crayons and coloring books to keep them occupied while mom gets an ID."
Wilmoth and her supervisor, Midge Keegan, saw the 2009 surge first-hand. They say things have cooled so far in 2010, but that the numbers usually go up in the summer.
"For awhile, we did pick up quite a few because they were out of money," Keegan said. "You'll have a few more of the ‘I'm out of work' people. We had a lot who are putting their kids through school."
On the day that White registered, she filled out an application, got her picture taken and walked out within 10 minutes. Within two hours, three other women had come in to repeat the process.
But working mothers like her will have fierce competition.
One woman, who only wanted to be referred to by her stage name Kiara, said that dancing has gotten much harder since she started in 2000. More girls and fewer dollars have made getting by a struggle.
"The economy is so hard. I used to get $2,000 to $3,000 a night," Kiara said. "Now I get $300. Everything is so different."
Her competition is fierce. Not long after, two young, New York women giggled as they looked at their new ID cards. Candice Serafine, 20, and Lauren Trezza, 18, were only in for two weeks, but wanted to make some extra cash dancing at the Spearmint Rhino before they left.
"I just like doing it better than a full time job," Trezza said. She giggled and half-yelled, "Buy more Gucci!"
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Tuesday, April 27th 2010 at 2:27PM
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