Instead of naked women, a thick layer of dust covered the main stage of the former Platinum Plus Thursday morning.
A long line formed outside the club before 10 a.m., and more than 200 people crowded inside to see Memphis’ most notorious strip club — shut down more than two years ago — and maybe buy a keepsake.
The state auctioned off all the personal property in the building last week, including chairs, poles, the DJ booth and sound equipment, and strippers’ outfits and shoes.
Some auction attendees, most of whom were men, came out of curiosity while others came for old times’ sake.
Memphian Matt Kruse said he had been to Platinum in the past for bachelor and birthday parties. “I’m not buying anything. I’m just out here seeing old memories,” Kruse said.
He wasn’t the only one. Dancers were in the locker rooms dodging reporters and photographers to get one last look — and some pictures — of their former workplace.
“I’ve already checked your locker,” one heavily made-up blonde said to another. “These are my shoes,” said another dancer, looking through the piles of stacked heels and pleather boots that lined the dressing-room counters.
Most of the lockers are decorated with the dancers’ daily words of wisdom: Bible verses and stickers that say things such as “I’m easy if you’re hard,” “Nice People Swallow,” and “5 days a week my body’s a temple, the other 2 days it’s an amusement park.”
In the main room, opened doors and a few standing lights helped bidders see the items for sale.
“I know the lighting is bad in here,” auctioneer Ken Roebuck said to the crowd, “but most of y’all got cat eyes anyway. You’ve been coming here for years.”
Memphian Darryl Johnson bid on and won many items, including the lighting rig that once illuminated the main stage and both mini-cage stages.
“I’m opening up a club,” Johnson said, though he wouldn’t say where. “It won’t be an adult entertainment club though, just a dance club.”
Another bidder, who asked to be identified as James, bought a painted glass window — featuring a naked beauty — for $675.
“I’ve spent plenty of years in here. I’m bidding on a few things,” James said. “This glass is a classic piece of art. I’m going to find a backdrop for it and put it in my house.”
The bar, which Roebuck said had once belonged to Al Capone and contained miscellaneous bullet holes, sold for $30,000. The large disco ball: $500.
In total, the auction netted $60,000 for the state.
“We’ve never held an auction at a nightclub before, so we weren’t sure how much it would bring in,” said Jennifer Donnals, communications director for the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. “The money will be divided proportionately between all of the agencies that participated in the investigation and operation.”
The building will be sold at a later date.
