The Inside Story Of America’s First Topless Dispensary
A pair real estate entrepreneurs want to transform a beloved strip club
Route 10 in Whately, a small, swampy farm town along the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts, a 50-year-old strip joint called Club Castaway hopes to enjoy another half-century in business by hitching its future to the state’s $1.4 billion cannabis market.
The roadside strip club, known locally as the “Whately Ballet,” has been closed since Covid-19 lockdowns began in March 2020. The owners, two Boston real estate and cannabis entrepreneurs, have struggled to find the Castaway’s next act since buying it in 2019. Owners Nicholas Spagnola, 34, and Julius Sokol, 42, now say they will ditch the pole, the stage and the alcohol and replace it with a dispensary featuring half-nude budtenders.
“Club Castaway has a long-running reputation, and we think the next step is to be the country’s first topless cannabis dispensary,” says Sokol. “It’s a unique opportunity to put Whately on the map.”
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