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GREENSBORO — One of the city’s most popular downtown nightclubs is changing names and formats on the heels of a shooting two weeks ago that left five people injured.

Rocco Scarfone, owner of the N Club at 117 S. Elm St., said Monday that the venue will reopen Nov. 27 as Allure Nightlife.

Scarfone denied that the change came as a direct result of the shootings Oct. 28.

The change was originally planned for this spring but was moved up in light of the shootings, he said. The N Club abruptly closed Saturday.

The new club, which Scarfone said will include performances by celebrities and nationally known musical acts, will cater to people 21 and older. The N Club has featured hip-hop music and was open to people 18 and older.

An upscale wine and tapas bar, Social, is scheduled to open next door to Allure in the spring.

Scarfone said the change comes at the advice of a consultant he hired three months ago for suggestions on how to improve downtown nightlife.

The change is also an attempt to improve profits, which have been in decline since 2008, he said.

Scarfone and the N Club have come under scrutiny since the shooting about 2 a.m. Oct. 28 at South Elm Street and February One Place.

Police said two groups had been arguing inside the N Club. The groups were asked to leave, with one group leaving before the other.

Police said the two groups began going their separate ways at the intersection when 22-year-old Quinton Campbell pulled a handgun and fired several times from February One Place, hitting four people on South Elm Street before police shot him.

On Saturday, another of Scarfone’s clubs — LAX Gentlemen’s Club at 2216 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive — was the site of a shooting, this time in a parking lot.

A man police identified as Demettere Fox, 23, remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. The shooter, who police believe pulled a gun out of his car, had not been arrested as of late Monday.

At the news conference, Scarfone said he is working with the city and police to improve security at his clubs, including hiring a new staff and a consultant to review security.

Scarfone said that he is adopting new security procedures  for all of his establishments and that he will submit them to the city for review before starting them.

In light of the LAX shooting, that club will have a new policy where security will ask to search patrons’ cars before they are allowed to park in the club lot.

About the N Club shooting, Scarfone said he thinks the criticism has been off base.

The N Club was third among downtown clubs for police calls, he said. Other clubs should be criticized equally as people call for his club to be shut down, he said.

“The N Club is the biggest club, the oldest club. It’s been here forever, and they are called out like they are the only problem downtown,” Scarfone said.

“The statistics show differently,” he said. “I gather if there is a call to close a club, that call should be across the board to close all the clubs. Is that the solution? No. the solution is, let’s be proactive and let’s be safer.”

Police Chief Ken Miller said the police department’s focus is making downtown safer as a whole in light of the widely publicized October shooting.

“It didn’t matter that police were there,” Miller said. “It was pretty brazen, and that creates a lot of concern in people’s minds. That’s where we start, but it’s not where we end.”

Miller said his concern is whether Scarfone is effectively managing his clubs and not pushing problems inside of them out onto the street.

Councilman Zack Matheny said he wants to bring city leaders, police, residents and business owners together to create an effective safety strategy for downtown.

He plans to hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the idea.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com