Re-Hooterizing is painful

I'm a millennial but I'm 41, so on the older scale for millennials. Many my age consider us Xennials, an in between generation between Gen X and Millennials.

But I would agree with most of this. Being 41, I'm old enough to remember when Hooters was essentially still at it's prime in the 90s and early 2000s. When the girls truly were edgy and my mom low key hated when my dad would take me to one.

Hooters was unique in that it was edgy without going over the line. It went right up to the line, being essentially a strip club lite experience, without going over the line into a full on strip club. Women like my mom were okay if their Men went to Hooters (though probably didn't really love it), but wouldn't be okay if their Men went to a strip club. And for those of us who grew up in areas that didn't have strip clubs, it was essentially your closet experience to a strip club.

The problem I see with Hooters is multiple. It tries to be a little bit of everything, while thriving at nothing. The whole "Hooters girl" theme has been toned down. The outfits are dated, they are taking away fun things like having the Hooters girls in bikinis for certain events and the girls themselves just aren't particularly hot anymore. So it fails in really delivering that strip club lite experience. While it tries to be a sports bar, it's not great at it. BWW, while their wings are inferior, has a much better sports bar setup. And the food itself, while not as bad as people want to make it out to be, is still your typical bar food for the most part.

So to review:

- They don't have the edginess anymore - Twin Peaks beats them at that.
- They don't have the best sports bar experience - BWW beats them at that.
- They have typical bar food at inflated prices - Local bars and restaurants will beat them at that.

I also think that for Millennials and Gen Z, they want all or nothing. To them, Hooters is nothing more than a mediocre tease. The girls aren't that hot, and you really can't do anything anyway. At least at a strip club in Tampa or Miami, you can actually have significant physical contact with the girl, and the girls at the semi-high end and high end clubs are hot. Even the mediocre clubs will have at least a few hot girls.

The Millennials and Gen Z either think the Hooters concept is dated and degrading, and don't want to see women treated like that (which is dumb since the women agree to it) or that the Hooters concept is too tame, they want it full on and they want the real thing, which means a strip club or even full on escort services.

I don't see much of a future for the breastaurants, Hooters isn't the only one struggling. Some mention Kerr's Winghouse, but like Hooters, they are also a shadow of what they once were. I don't know how many remember, but there used to be Tilted Kilt as well, and they went out of business. And Twin Peak's, their girls don't do that much for me, most of them seem to be on a trashy side. I see Twin Peak's also either having to tone it down and moderate to being more of an outdoors/sports bar or also starting to struggle. I just think it's a segment that most younger generations, and even most Americans, have moved on from.

 

Hooters in general has mediocre food, but I do enjoy their Breaded and Daytona wings. And I agree their wings are significantly better than Buffalo Wild Wings.

With that said, I went to Hooters on Thursday to watch the Sweet 16. First time at Hooters in awhile. And like you said, for trying to be a sports bar, it's actually not easy to watch multiple games. Meanwhile, BWW, while their wings are inferior, is a much better sports bar experience, especially for watching multiple events.

The other thing I've noticed in recent years at Hooters. The girls really don't even try to interact with you anymore. They act just like any typical server. They take your drink order, your main order and then give you your check.

Back during their peak, Hooters girls would definitely take time to talk and even flirt with you. You knew it was artificial and just to get a bigger tip, but it was still nice to pretend and to have a hot girl having to stroke your ego. The classic role reversal. It was part of the experience, and the girls, besides being completely mediocre now, don't even try to do that anymore.

 

Oh they don’t flirt like they use to? Hot tip - you (us) were also 20 years younger.

 

They shut down twice in Gainesville, really never cared for their food

 

Lets be honest. The food is meh and the staff is less than meh. The last time I went to any type of this style of place, the girls were overweight, tatted up and pierced up. Not exactly what they portray in their commercials and calendars. Not exactly what you want to see squeezed into tight shorts and a cut off shirt.

 

Lets be honest. Hooters thrived early on for being a bit risque. In todays world they are pretty conservative.

Always loved their wings though. Used to go to sports trivia night and rack up wings and pitchures for weeks.

 

I'm on the younger end of gen X, and here's my take. Hooters was around when I was growing up. There's nothing particularly cool about the brand. That's where our dads went for a beer.

As a brand Twin Peaks does everything better than hooters ever did. Better food. MUCH better bar selection. Actual craft beers (at hooters, fat tire was their one "craft beer" for the longest time). The staff and outfits are way hotter.

A Twin Peaks girl we were friendly with confided that she gets 2x the tips there than she did working at the Hooters nearby. Hearing that, doesn't surprise me that there would be some "talent drain"...

 

It sounds like spin, or a prayer. Let's face it, Hooters is bang average at best, including the girls at this point, and has been struggling for a while. Even if I'm doing that, I'm doing Winghouse.

 

Eat some wings at home while scrolling through the babes thread. Much better than going to hooters

 

Is your keyboard and mouse just covered with chicken grease and wing sauce?

 

A business model can only grow so large. The axiom 'you cannot serve two masters' comes to mind.

 

You (us) were also much poorer 20 years ago. My income is double now what it was 15 years ago when I was 25. And here I thought the main goal for any worker was to make as much money as possible.

Who's going to have more disposable income? Some broke 21 year old college guy, or a man in their 30s or 40s in the prime of their earning years? I think we all know the answer to that question. Reverse it, which side is more like to want to harass the women (thinking they actually have a chance, though with the way Hooters girls have gone downhill, maybe they do, lol. their talent is a shadow of what it was 20 years ago) and then stiff those same women when it comes to the tip? Or in the very least, significantly under tip? We all know it's far more likely to be the broke 21 year old college guy.

In actuality, it should be the opposite of what you just proposed. It should be the guys in their mid 30s, 40s and 50s getting all the attention at a place like Hooters or Twin Peaks. The guys in their 20s, especially early and mid 20s, should all but be getting ignored. Not because the girls actually like the guys, but because the chance of a significantly bigger tip for just semi-flirting with those guys is much higher. Guys between 18 - 25 aren't tipping even semi-big.

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe those Hooters or Twin Peaks girls don't like more money. Silly me thinking their goal was to try to make as much money as possible, especially since many of them are in college and needing the money to even start to pay for the student loans or for other college expenses. Just a silly argument.

 

good point. That’s a whole other thing - that gen isn’t as money-motivated in those non-permanent jobs like 20 years ago. Probably a few reasons why - more tethered to parents $?