Our ABS in Lincoln with 5 theaters never closed. Our county never had a shelter in place order either although a lot of businesses changed things and some did close temporarily. They never reduced hours. I think we were one of 7 or 8 in the entire Romantix chain that stayed opened the whole time, although business was way down in the arcade as well as the retail area. FYI, each store is different but while the arcade is the bread and butter for them, it's not the money-maker you'd think--it's actually a small percentage, like less than 20% of what they bring in. Sure, it's pure profit for the most part, but this day in age arcades aren't popular like they were a generation ago (in most spots), and ours sells quite a bit of toys and lube and pills and cleaners, and more but those are the popular sellers. Sometimes I'm worried they won't justify the cost of the theaters, actually. But since they're already built and operational, and it's a big store as it is, there's nothing to be gained by a remodel is my guess.
On a related note there are ordinances that govern what's allowed and not allowed when operating an adult-oriented business. Lincoln has a "no private viewing booth" ordinance, so we have 5 theaters with multiple seats, and the doors can't be closed. Other places actually have ordinances not allowing gloryholes--really--and most have the "one person per booth" ordinance when private booths are allowed. If the cops come in and find 2 people in a room, even if you're not having sex, you can be slapped with a fine. It's like a traffic ticket, you pay the fine and that's it. I heard years ago of this happening and it was like $125 where they were at. It's not criminal and there's no record, it's just a fine. That's usually why there are signs--it's a requirement, not a "cover your ass" move. Enforcement may or may not be adhered to, that's up to the business and staff on duty for the most part. Other spots have a "no expectation of privacy" ruling, which means your doors can't be floor to ceiling, or have to have a window in them. (Wichita has this I think). Other places have a "no doors on the booth" law, or an "open booth" law (Des Moines city limits has this). That's why it's all over the board as to what store has what, and allows what, etc. Just because a place doesn't have gloryholes doesn't mean they're not allowed, it might be that the business chooses for some reason to not have them at that location
Anytime I'm in a new ABS I just take stock of the place, the lay of the land, and watch what people are doing before just diving in. Sometimes it easy to see anything goes. Other times not so much.
One store I used to frequent didn't care if you were dropping money in the booth or not (and some had GHs), they just didn't want you hanging in the hallways. They wouldn't bother you to drop money, but they would walk the arcade yelling "get OFF the walls and into a booth". I guess they learned that if you were in a booth you'd most likely spend money anyway and it looked better for them if the cops came in and there weren't guys just lining the walls. This was back in the 80s when raids (in FTL) weren't uncommon. Apologies for going off-topic.
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