A new gay strip club is slated to open later this year in a former midtown furniture store. "Johnsons" will open in the former Domestic Comfort Furniture store in Ansley Square along Piedmont Avenue near Ansley Mall. Domestic Comfort closed last year after about a decade in business.
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| Johnsons owner Matt Colunga |
The new club, an offshoot of a similar club by the same name in Ft. Lauderdale, is being opened by bodybuilder, DJ, model, and entrepreneur Matt Colunga. Johnsons will span about 8,400 square feet, reportedly a bit smaller than west midtown hotspot Swinging Richards, but does size really matter?
Colunga is no stranger to the gay community in Atlanta, as for more than a decade, he was the manager and DJ at Swinging Richards. Colunga left Atlanta several years ago to open a Swinging Richards outpost in south Florida before eventually branching out on his own to open Johnsons in Wilton Manors, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, in 2017. (Swinging Richards relocated from North Miami Beach to Pompano Beach, but closed permanently in 2015.)
"All Male, All Nude: Johnsons,” a documentary that was released last year, featured Colunga and his employees. The title is seemingly misleading as according to those who have seen it and visited his Florida club, unlike at Swinging Richards, his dancers strip down to basically nothing, but do not get completely nude. Culunga reportedly sees his club as sexier and more tasteful than others. (Playboy thought sexy [not nude] could sell in 2016, but by 2017 they had returned to their naked ways.)
In Atlanta, Johnsons will nonetheless compete with both Swinging Richards as well as BJ Roosters on Cheshire Bridge Road. Johnsons will likely benefit from its proximity to the heart of the "gayborhood" and Colunga's ties to the area.
With a former furniture store now on its way to becoming a gay strip club and a neighboring former Pier 1 Imports becoming the new home of Richard's Variety, it will be interesting to see what other big box retail spaces become as this year of closures progresses.
Are you pleased to hear that a third male strip club is coming to metro Atlanta? Have you been to Johnsons? What big box chain retailer do you think will be next to close stores?
Please share your thoughts below.