Two years ago, the Mountain City Club was on its last legs. Today, membership is booming, with more than 100 new members signed up since then.
But in order to survive, the storied club had to change. In the face of shifts in how young professionals approach their lives, the old ways simply weren’t cutting it.
Like at many private business clubs, membership at the Mountain City Club was falling, revenue from dues was declining, and new blood was in short supply. At a low, the club hit just 240 dues-paying members.
The club was having an identify crisis. What purpose could a bunch of wood-paneled rooms stuffed with leather armchairs serve as millennials and young professionals increasingly turn to coffee shops, bars and work-from-home arrangements that don’t charge a monthly fee?
“There’s a big conversation in America right now, and the topic is whether there is a place for a city club anymore,” says Bob Franklin, president of the Mountain City Club. “That’s the big question, is whether there is still a market for that.”