Teen spirit (without the spirits)

Peggy Davies, the sister of owner Keith Schillo, for one, is baffled. "These kids have nothing around here," she says. "Nothing." She estimates there are five high schools in the area, totaling about 10,000 kids. And if they're not at her brother's club, she doesn't understand what they're doing. Or rather, she imagines they're doing what they've always done - spending time at the mall, the movies, and friends' house parties.

"We're struggling now," she says, "and if these kids don't pick up their support in the next two months, we won't be here." The club couldn't sustain a Friday and Saturday schedule, so, for now, it's only open Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

People familiar with the business say that it's typical for an under-21 club to be able to support just one night a week. During the school year, young people have only two free nights, and most won't go to the same place two nights in a row. Plus, liability insurance for these clubs is extremely expensive. And the clincher: there's no money from alcohol sales.

Taylor Rau, editor of Nightclub & Bar Magazine, says that newcomers stand just a 1 in 8 chance of seeing their club last six months. For under-21 clubs, things are grimmer. Sam Baris, who consults with nightclub owners, including Escondido's Mitich, tells clients it's possible to make a go of a teen club, but notes that an over-21 club can make three times as much money. Because of this, many regular nightclubs host teen nights over school holidays or on slow summer nights, but few are devoted exclusively to teenagers.

"To tell you the truth, it was a lot easier running these places in the '70s and '80s," says Mr. Baris, whose company, The Cookhouse, is based in Las Vegas. "We didn't have the plethora of entertainment that we have now," he says, reeling off a list that includes the Internet, MP3 players, and cable and satellite TV. And with cellphones, the ability to orchestrate an impromptu gathering makes the venue less important to young people than it once was.

Teens are a tough crowd, fickle and savvy, with higher expectations than most adults. One of the places teen clubs go wrong, says Baris, is that they don't "wow" their patrons, many of whom have fake IDs and have already been to the real thing. Most teen clubs "look more like a high school dance than Studio 54," he says.

Here, in this renovated icehouse in an industrial district near San Diego, the crowd bounces to the music in groups of three or more. Only a handful of couples are entwined. A few engage in provocative dancing. Teenagers may want their own version of Studio 54, but tonight, in a reminder of the eternal shyness of adolescence, many prefer to stand with arms folded, silently watching.

Inferno Teen Dance Club
Depew, N.Y.
(716) 444-0116
(Open until 1 a.m. New Year's Eve; $12 cover)

Club Millennium Anchorage, Alaska
(907) 277-1428
clubmillenniumak.com
(Closed New Year's Eve)

Inferno Young Adult Nightclub
Escondido, Calif.
(760) 741-1271
infernosd.com
($15 cover for New Year's Eve Jam 2006)

Rocketown
Nashville, Tenn.
rocketown.com
(Open until 1 a.m. on New Year's Eve; $7 cover)

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