RCI Hospitality Holdings

RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. (previously Rick's Cabaret International, Inc.), through its subsidiaries, operates strip clubs, nightclubs, sports bars/restaurants, and a media and convention company that serves the adult club industry. RCI went public with an IPO in 1995 is listed on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol RICK.

RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc
TypePublic
Nasdaq: RICK
IndustryStrip clubs, nightclubs, adult websites, American Restaurant chain
Founded1983
FounderRobert Watters, Eric Langan
Headquarters
Houston, Texas
,
U.S.
Area served
Texas, New York, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Illinois
Key people
CEO Eric Langan, EVP Travis Reese, CFO Bradley Chhay[1]
Revenue$267.62 million[2]
Websitercihospitality.com

History

The company was founded in 1983 by Robert Watters and is based in Houston, Texas. In 1998, the company merged with Taurus, Inc., which owned the XTC Cabaret chain and was controlled by Eric Langan, who eventually became the RCI's president and CEO in 1999. Langan acquired his first gentlemen's club in Texas at age 21 with $40,000 from the sale of his baseball card collection. Subsequently, RCI expanded inside and outside of Texas to states such as New York, Illinois, Florida, Arizona, Minnesota and others, and entered related businesses, such as sports bars/restaurants and nightclubs.

In a 2019 class-action lawsuit against the company for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act a judge determined the company misclassified some workers, ruling they were employees thus due minimum wage.[3]

In 2020, Rick's Cabaret was criticized for taking several million dollars in Paycheck Protection Program loans meant to help small business during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is also under an ongoing formal SEC investigation.[4]

Nightclubs

RCI owns more than 55 strip clubs under various names for various clienteles. In 2007, the company purchased Tootsie's Cabaret.[5]

RCI has been named to Forbes magazine list of the 200 best companies.[6] It has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, MarketWatch, Corporate Board Member, SmartMoney, The New York Daily News, USA Today as well as other publications.

Rick's Cabaret in New York City Steakhouse was listed in Zagat's New York Nightlife and included in the TONY 100 list of fine Manhattan dining establishments by Time Out New York.

Entertainment sites Gothamist,[7] Thrillist, Complex, Miami New Times,[8] Broward New Times, Southflorida.com, and Timeout.com have named clubs operating under RCI to their "Best Strip Club" lists. RCI has also won multiple Awards from Ed Publications including 2019 Club Chain of the Year.[9]

On August 4, 2023, all four RCI clubs in Miami were named to Time Out's "Best strip clubs in Miami" list.[10]

Restaurants

RCI subsidiaries own and operate Bombshells Restaurant & Bar, a military-themed sports bar/restaurant chain first opened in 2013. Bombshells has 12 locations in Texas and one in Colorado. The chain is also known for its “Bombshells Girls” servers, outfitted with military-inspired uniforms.[11]

In 2018, Restaurant Business magazine named Bombshells Restaurant & Bar to its "The Future 50" list of fastest-growing concepts.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Key Executives"
  2. "Marketwatch Financials"
  3. ABC News. "Rick's Cabaret Strippers Entitled to Minimum Wage". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  4. "Strip club owner got $5.4 million from Paycheck Protection Program - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  5. "Tootsies Cabaret sold for $25M". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  6. America's 200 Best Small Companies Of 2009
  7. Casey, Nell (August 20, 2015). "The 7 Best Strip Clubs In NYC". Gothamist. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  8. "Best Play 2018". Miami New Times. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  9. RCI named Best Club Chain of the year 2019
  10. "11 Best Strip Clubs in Miami for a Wild Night Out". Time Out Miami. 2023-08-04. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  11. Kearney, Syd (2014-11-19). "A battalion of nubile women serve up dishes at Bombshells". Chron. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  12. "The Future 50 2018"
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