RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. (previously Rick's Cabaret International, Inc.), through its subsidiaries, operates

strip clubs A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s, 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.

History

The company was founded in 1983 by Robert Watters and is based in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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.

Nightclubs

RCI owns more than 55 strip clubs under various names for various clienteles. In 2007, the company purchased Tootsie's Cabaret, now the largest strip club in the world. RCI has been named to ''

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'' magazine list of the 200 best companies. It has been profiled in ''

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'', '' Fortune'',

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, Corporate Board Member, '' SmartMoney'', ''

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'', ''

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'' 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

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, Complex, ''Miami New Times'', ''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. On August 4, 2023, all four RCI clubs in Miami were named to Time Out's "Best strip clubs in Miami" list. On August 28, 2024, Scarlett's Cabaret Miami was named Overall Club of the Year at the Annual Gentleman's Club Expo in Dallas.

Restaurants

RCI subsidiaries own and operate Bombshells Restaurant & Bar, a military-themed sports bar/restaurant chain first opened in 2013. Bombshells has 13 locations in Texas and one in Colorado. The chain is also known for its “Bombshells Girls” servers, outfitted in skimpy military-themed outfits. In 2018, Restaurant Business magazine named Bombshells Restaurant & Bar to its "The Future 50" list of fastest-growing concepts."The Future 50 2018"
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References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.rcihospitality.com/ Companies based in Houston Adult entertainment companies Companies listed on the Nasdaq Restaurant chains in the United States Strip clubs American companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in Texas Strip club owners

History

Nightclubs

Restaurants

See also

References

External links