ClubCorp, which has owned the Winston-Salem, N.C., property since its founding in 1987, informed the club’s Board and members that it will step down as owner and operator. The club could face closure if a new management company is not secured by March 18.
Piedmont Club, a staple of fine dining in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C., for nearly 30 years, may shut down as early as March, if a new management company is not found for the private social club, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.
ClubCorp, which has managed the club since its founding in 1987, has informed the board and club members of its plans to exit the private social club sector, the Journal reported.
Without new management or owner in place, the club could close as early as March 18, said Melvin Scales, the club’s chairman.
The club was founded by local business and political leaders who thought Winston-Salem needed a private club for people of every race, gender, creed and religious affiliation, the Journal reported.
“This club has been a good resource for our community for not only meetings, but also in helping promote diverse locations that are utilized by all areas of the city,” said Mayor Allen Joines.
The club’s board “is making excellent progress with an organization interested in private social clubs,” Scales said. He declined to identify the organization, but said it has similar properties in North Carolina and nationwide, the Journal reported.
ClubCorp deferred making immediate comment when contacted by the Journal.
ClubCorp told the board in mid-November that it was putting its focus on its private country- and golf-club properties, Scales said, and officially informed Piedmont Club members of its decision last week, the Journal reported.
“We were told initially their plans were to be out of the club by March 31, and then it was updated to March 18,” Scales said. “Our goal is to have at least new management in place by ClubCorp’s closing date, and if not, we will be fairly close.
“The board’s goal is to ensure that members continue to receive ClubCorp’s highest level of service throughout this process,” he said.
Jason Thiel, the president of Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, said that “the board of the club has the situation well in hand and is working on a long-term solution.”
ClubCorp spent $600,000 in 2012 to renovate the club with expanded dining and social features, and new programs, membership benefits and services. The club has averaged about 900 members in recent years, but Scales said it has dropped to 740 in recent months, the Journal reported.
The drop-off primarily is related to “members reassessing their financial situation more than dissatisfaction with club operations,” Scales said. Membership also tended to ebb and flow with the city’s gain or loss of major employers, the Journal reported.
In a 2012 article, founding members spoke of “an opportunity of developing a club where everyone could be a member regardless of gender or culture or religion,” said J. David Branch, an ophthalmologist and one of five individuals who served as precursors to the club’s founding board.
“At that point in time (the 1980s), the lunch-dinner club here in town, the Twin City Club, and the country clubs in town were segregated, and they did not allow women, Jews and African-Americans as members,” Branch said in 2012.
The group chose 40 members, including themselves, to fill out the club’s founding board. ClubCorp agreed to manage the club, the Journal reported.
“People were ready for a change,” Branch said. “They came together and they brought representatives for the companies that they worked for or owned.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.