I finally heard back yesterday on some numbers I’d requested from the San Diego Police Department for my recent People at Work story on Portia Kirk, who sews clothing for strippers. I wanted to gauge the size of Kirk’s market.
There are 15 adult nude entertainment establishments in the city of San Diego, department spokesman Gary Hassen told me yesterday.
A lot of dancers work in those clubs. There are currently 1,875 registered nude entertainers who’ve obtained the required independent contractor license from the police department, Hassen said. But he said there are “a number who perform without a permit” that the police know about, he said.
Kirk told me she has about 40 regular clients and knows about 200 dancers. Even that’s a lot of bikinis to sew, let alone the other 1,600-some dancers the Police Department has registered.
— KELLY BENNETT