The Doheny –a romping pompous members only cocktail lounge “hidden” somewhere downtown –opened in early 2008 and came with something like a $6,000 dollar-a-year price tag. After the hype died down and people realized that the clientele consisted of old men and “cool guy” employees from Cedd’s other establishments (7 Grand, Broadway Bar, Golden Gopher), the place began to depreciate in value and the fees followed in suit. 
The latest quote was somewhere around $2,550. Obviously heading the clear direction of… south, the boys over at 213 Downtown –Cedd Moses’s nightlife co. –have scrapped the douche den (commonly referred to amidst the blogosphere) for a “new” rum bar concept, Cana.
The best part about Cana is that it still requires a membership fee of $20 a year. Now, I’m not exactly savvy to marketing and I’m sure this is some kind of gimmick, but humor me for a minute. To me, this is a bit of a slap in the face to members who paid the originally ridiculous amount. They are being reimbursed for their already paid annual fee, with credits on drink specials and a “lifetime” membership to Cana. Hurray.
Lets work this out, say the average member of the Doheny was around 43 (like I said, these dudes were old). Now, the average life expectancy for a man, because let’s be honest the place was a sausage fest, is like 77 years. Assuming I, as a member, am going to want to go to this place for the rest of my life (doubtful), that leaves me with 34 years to, umm enjoy myself? Thereby allotting a grand total of my initial membership fees of 1,870, unaccounted for. Quite the profit for Mr. Moses. And that’s not considering the high probability of this place closing in the next 3 years.
Now, consider this Horatio… It seems to me that the $20 fee was enacted for the sole purpose to justify the fact that the 213 crew is swooping up a whole bunch of money. I mean, we have to give the members something right, so we’ll waive a $20 fee for the rest of your life. 
Somehow, this might just bring 213 –who just opened another bar, Las Perlas, in their financially ‘not-so-abundant’ period –back on top of the game. Were they on their way out? Was this a quick fix? Shit, maybe I am good at marketing. That, or I watch too much Mad Men.
Nothing says class like a Mai Tai!
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Actually, their liquor license is contingent on a members-only type business model. You could have asked before speculating.
Haha, fair enough…I love the place either way. Though you’d think Mr.Moses would have the pull to sling something in his favor with the ABC at this point? Wonder if he’ll try to make the move any time soon?