The strip joint had been operating at the bottom of the Bellflower Boulevard exit ramp of the Artesia (91) Freeway since the Vietnam War era, and lost its lease. Bartenders and dancers discovered locked doors when they reported for work Monday, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
"If I was running a business with employees working there for 20-plus years, I'd have the decency to let them know they no longer have a job," said one unhappy former part-time bartender.
Sheriff's deputies said the bar was not a magnet for crime, and that most police calls were for transients or traffic-related issues, as drivers involved in minor collisions on the freeway sometimes pulled into the bar's lot.
