There’s an old saying that it ain’t over until the fat stripper quits singing, or something like that. But I’d bet some good, crisp $1 bills there’s more than one Panama City commissioner waiting for the singing to stop, thus marking the end of Tan Fannie’s topless bar on Beck Avenue.
The run is slated to end Sept. 18, when an undisclosed developer is set to buy it, tear it down and construct a “boutique-style hotel.”
But city officials and nearby business owners aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves until the deal is done after many years of hoping the business would simply disappear.
“I am cautious until it’s a done deal,” Panama City Commissioner Mike Nichols told The News Herald, “until the ink is dry on the paper.”
Tan Fannie’s is an institution, albeit an unfortunate one in the eyes of city leaders and many merchants along
That wasn’t the case in the not-so-distant past.
It could be argued at one time that it was one of the better attended businesses in that area once you got past Pappy’s German restaurant. On many nights it was the one with the most cars, it seemed, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad reflection of what the area had become.
In every class of business there are levels of professionalism, or quality, let’s say. Ruth’s Chris, Outback and Golden Corral all serve steak. Golden Corral is no Outback and Outback isn’t Ruth’s Chris. The prices reflect the fare and the services, and this is true in many businesses.
The “gentleman’s club” business is no different. And for those who follow such things, it was fairly well accepted that there were tiers of “class” among the local topless bars, if you can apply that word to that business.
There were a couple generally considered to fancier with “prettier” dancers and the accompanying pricier drinks and cover charges. There were those folks went to who didn’t have as much to spend and they were charged less to get in and less to drink and that was reflected in the level of entertainment.
And there were those where a small paycheck went a long way, you never knew exactly what might be going on, and there was almost a sense of acknowledgement that they weren’t trying to be fancy.
Tan Fannies struck me that way simply by its outward appearance and the signs it used to post that boasted something along the lines of, “12 ugly girls, 1 pretty 1!”
That said, Tan Fannies had every right in the world to be doing what it was doing where it was doing it. We’ve long advocated for the rights of those types of businesses as long as they are following the rules guiding everyone else and government shouldn’t be in the business of running a business out of town. The market will determine that.
And that appears to the case here, with the owner presumably selling for a profit because she wants to.
That’s good for
It’s dwarfed to the north by the Shrimp Boat, Uncle Ernie’s sits to its west, the old Copacabana across the street is under renovation and there’s a giant new condominium to the south overlooking a refurbished marina. Charter fishing has returned, the area has a vitality to it. The Captain’s Table and Hunt’s Oyster Bar appear to be flourishing.
There’s a musuem with old printing presses and now they have events like the annual Halloween Scarecrow decorating contest among the businesses.
There is not a natural crossover between those kinds of businesses, small coffee shops, boutiques and a topless bar.
I’m happy there’s change afoot, but happier that government let the market run its course rather than forcing the issue.