Why Are There Big Lines At Nightclubs? The Answer May Surprise You

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Nightlife Blogger

What’s one of the biggest differences in a pub and a club? The fake lines out in front of a club.

Pubs don’t do that but have you ever waited in a long line for a club only to finally get inside and find the place is nearly empty? If you’ve gone to a club you have because it happens all the time. In fact, common practice among nightclub owners to create these false lines.

But why? The answer may surprise you.

Clubs have lines in order to look popular. If there’s no line, then – so goes the theory – clubbers will go elsewhere because they want to be in the hottest, most popular clubs. And how can it be the hottest, most popular nightclub if people are not waiting in a long line to get inside?

This may seem to go counter to getting people in a bar and spending money. Every day, bar owners and managers wake up stressing about whether or not anyone will show up to their place at night. So to intentionally make people wait, and quite possibly leave after being fed up from waiting for a long time, does not seem to make good business sense. After all, would it not be better to have all those people inside spending $10 and up for beers and $15 and up for cocktails (and $500 and up for bottle service) than forcing them to wait outside?

But that’s not how clubs operate. It’s in their DNA to create these fake, or artificial, lines.

It’s a strategy that would never work for a pub. That’s because pubbers won’t put up with it as do the clubbers. It would be the kiss of death for a pub but nightclubs rely on the perceived popularity of their bar. To have no line would send a message to clubbers that the club is not an “in” place and they not only don’t mind waiting in a line, they expect it.

And that is why there are always lines in front of nightclubs when the bar may actually be fairly empty inside.