Thread: Help With Opening a Manchester Club

My partner and I are in the process of planning a Manchester Burlesque Club/Bar/Café. It won't be up and running for a good few years yet but this gives us time to plan and research. If anyone could give any help on best location for one in Macnehster, the prices we are looking at for publicity, food, drink, alchohol licence and all the paperwork that generally comes with it and any problems anyone else has encountered along the way.

Any help welcome!

Thanks All

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i dont know anything about the paperwork side of things. but i know its gonna be hard work and lots of monetary outlay!!

i wish you all the luck in the world, though. keep me updated. i live in salford/bolton and would love to come to your opening night. x

Oh I will no worries about that I'll make an update when we are out of the planning stage and actually getting going

Around Tib Street / Oldham Street / Northern Quarter area seems to be the place to be, especially with shops specialising in corsets, rockabilly style clothes, retro fashion, vinyl, & a Pop Boutique cafe, but there are already loads of bars in the area. Good luck, sounds awesome! x

maybe near the uni too. students seem to enjoy spending their pennies on burlesque as long as its not too expensive. x

Originally Posted by Allure

the prices we are looking at for publicity, food, drink, alchohol licence and all the paperwork that generally comes with it and any problems anyone else has encountered along the way.

Hi lovely,

I'm not an expert but I have a degree in advertising so publicitywise, unless you're able to reach your target audience directly, I'm afraid to say it's most likely a case of "you get what you pay for" - the more money (& imagination - creative advertising outlets work wonders for that "OMG did you see that ad about (subject) on the (imaginitive place)" factor!) spent, the more bums you're likely to get on seats.

Also, maybe to avoid so much competition in a city that already has a rather big burlesque following & many successful burlesque events, it might be worth locating your venue/show somewhere in Manchester that hasn't already got similar things in order to give that area something new & attract locals from that specific area while still being accessible to the established burly community in the city?

As I say, I'm no expert, but maybe worth taking into consideration hun. Lotsa lotsa luck with it all & do be sure to keep us updated

x

a city centre venue, with a good, well lit stage area, and a good secure backstage area - a wide range of drinks, including real ales - have a few general nights too as well as burlesque themed ones - talk to burlesque performers in the area about their experiences of venues, good and bad - work with troupes and organizers already running shows in Manchester rather than in competition - good luck with what sounds a very exciting venture xx

Originally Posted by Akannah Whoopass

Hi lovely,

I'm not an expert but I have a degree in advertising so publicitywise, unless you're able to reach your target audience directly, I'm afraid to say it's most likely a case of "you get what you pay for" - the more money (& imagination - creative advertising outlets work wonders for that "OMG did you see that ad about (subject) on the (imaginitive place)" factor!) spent, the more bums you're likely to get on seats.

Also, maybe to avoid so much competition in a city that already has a rather big burlesque following & many successful burlesque events, it might be worth locating your venue/show somewhere in Manchester that hasn't already got similar things in order to give that area something new & attract locals from that specific area while still being accessible to the established burly community in the city?

As I say, I'm no expert, but maybe worth taking into consideration hun. Lotsa lotsa luck with it all & do be sure to keep us updated

x

the only problem with manchester is that outside of the centre noone seems overly interested in burlesque . and the only place people will travel outside their town is into the city sentre. noone seems to travel between towns. so if you use somewhere that isnt the centre you have to make sure enough of the locals are interested, because noone will travel there. x

Originally Posted by susie von garter

so if you use somewhere that isnt the centre you have to make sure enough of the locals are interested, because noone will travel there. x

It's certainly worth considering & researching though.

I'm from a rather narrow-minded small town in the arsehole of East Yorkshire that had never seen burlesque & up until a few years ago was still collectively hurling homophobic & racist abuse at anyone different from the norm of the town. However, in June I held a charity burlesque evening there to "test the waters" & despite not many locals having previously been interested in the art (or even knowing what burlesque was in some cases!) it was still a great night for everyone & raised £250 for The Sophie Lancaster Foundation. And the audience enjoyed it so much that I'll be holding a second event in town on Friday 29th October.

Also, even though the show was in Goole - i.e. the middle of nowhere, half way between Hull & Doncaster - I still had guests travel a good 45 minute drive from Leeds & Bradford. Might not be a million miles away but if a Yorkshire burlesque show is able to attract burlesque enthusiasts from outside the area as well as locals who hadn't ever seen a show before is pretty damn good to me, so I'd say it's definitely worth looking into with Manchester.

x

thanks everyone for all the advice, I was thinking of setting it up around the student area and have talked to a few people that already have burlesque nights on in town and they think it would be a good idea considering students are always looking for a good night out and they have said they will give me support in whatever I need. Still not sure on the student area but I don't have to decide anything yet. One thing someone said was to maybe do a survay around areas that I was thinking of setting it up to see which areas would be best to look into.

Thanks all again for the all the great advice just to let everyone know I'm changing back to my old name which is Lette Von Lush just in case any one gets a bit confuzzled xx