Roberts's clientele actually preferred the 30- or 40-minute step class, which meant the club could go high volume, low cost.
After the families left the brunch place, I spoke with the staff, who seemed loath to challenge their clientele, preferring a cleaning detail to a loss of business, especially in these tough economic times.
Rich wood walls, framed art deco paintings and dim golden lighting will transport you from the loud streets of the city to a more sophisticated time, where handcrafted drinks are prepared with the upmost care and the clientele prefer conversation to rowdiness.
"Louis Cartier loved the neoclassical style of garland jewelry, the style that his clientele of aristocrats preferred," Pascale Lepeu, a curator of the Cartier Collection, said by telephone from Geneva.
Not only did they reject "self-identifying" as gay, but even gay hustlers knew they could not identify as such without turning off their gay clientele, who far preferred straight trade.
He explained that straight couples, in deference to the predominantly gay clientele in the dark rooms, often preferred the toilet stalls, but, for whatever reason, he didn't like the idea of screwing on a toilet.
This not only suited the store owners, who didn't want to alienate their rich clientele, but also benefitted the classier shoplifters, who preferred seeing their doctors to going to prison.
"What we've seen is that there are a substantial number of our clientele who prefer location No. 2 to No. 1 because when the patio is open, there are more seats, and we have a counter and indoor waiting area and valet parking in the evenings," Mr. Coker said.
Mr. Pakzad -- or simply Bijan, as he preferred to be known -- unabashedly promoted the opulence of his glamorous life, his stores and his clientele.
