LOTS OF ONES: Trixie's strip club sold at auction

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Trixie's, a long-time popular strip club off Preston Highway, was sold at auction Thursday, but the big surprise is what the new owner plans to do with the property.

After bidding started at $100,000, bidders quickly drove to the selling price of $475,000. The winning bidder was Alem Nuguse, an Ethiopian business owner.

"For a little bit I was backed out but my community told me, 'Go as far as you can,'" Nuguse said. "So I went as far as I can."

He plans to turn the building and parking lot into a community center for Ethiopians -- particularly for those in the Tigrean community -- in the area.

"We want to do a lot of things, you know?" he said. "We want to get education for our society -- open an Ethiopian restaurant. We don't have a lot of them."

Trixie's has been a family owned adult entertainment venue since the 1980s. However, owners said the business has struggled since the Louisville Metro Council banned full nudity, requiring dancers to remain at least 6 feet from customers and and forcing strip clubs to close at 1 a.m.

"That following Monday when the laws changed, I could have laid in front of our door and not been walked on -- it was that big of a change," said former general manager Trey Landrum.

Nuguse says he plans to begin renovations as soon as he takes possession of the property in about 30 days.