NYC Playboy Club to rebrand as Live Nation Theater at Cachet Hotel?
NYC got a new Playboy Club on 42nd St last September, and after barely a year in business, it’s closing, New York Post reports. They also say it’s being converted to a Live Nation venue and restaurant. Contributing factors, according to the Post‘s source, were low attendance on weekdays, the #MeToo era making the club off limits for reimbursed business dinners, as well as the sky-high membership rates, which ran from $5000 to $100k annually.
The rebranded (and redecorated) club will — according to the paper’s sources — be called the Live Nation Theater at Cachet Hotel, stemming from a ten-year deal between the promoter and Merchants Hospitality, who own Cachet. It’ll also contain the Merchants Steakhouse, and according to Merchants Hospitality CEO Abraham Merchant, current staffers “will be offered comparable jobs with the new Live Nation venue and Merchants Steakhouse.” They also say they’ll reimburse Playboy Club members’ fees who don’t want to patronize the new venue, while those who maintain their membership will get VIP access, concert tickets, dinners, and other perks.
They also say that Live Nation and Merchants’ plans for the club going forward are for it to be a “smaller venue providing more intimate experiences,” hosting “higher priced performances and meet-and-greets on singers’ nights off from the Barclay’s Center or Madison Square Garden, for instance.” “We saw a real opportunity to create the best live music concert venue in a VIP setting,” said Merchant told the Post. “Live Nation’s successful track record building out VIP experiences shares the same brand ethos as Merchants Hospitality and its portfolio of properties.”
Stay tuned to see how and if this really pans out. We’ll update if we hear more.
