NewsWhore
11-21-2006, 08:30 PM
Adult stores go from city streets to suburban strip malls (http://www.startribune.com/142/story/824688.html)
Colleen Bertino laughs a little when she recalls the fates of the two Fantasy Gifts stores her family once owned in Minneapolis.The downtown Minneapolis shop closed several years ago and reopened in Burnsville.
More recently, a store near the Uptown area of Minneapolis closed and lit out for the cheaper rent and more plentiful parking of Lakeville.
The burbs have been good to the Bertino family, owners of 13 sex-themed stores in Minnesota and New Jersey, most of them in strip malls -- or, in the case of the **** Rapids store, a former Taco Bell.
The family still owns and operates two stores in St. Paul, but Bertino, the chief operating officer, said the migration over the past decade into Fridley and **** Rapids, Burnsville and Bloomington, St. Louis Park and Crystal, was a conscious choice.
"I need to be where people live and where you can just pull up, park and walk in," she said. "Why do you think shopping doesn't do well downtown in general?"
The opening of the Lakeville shop 9 miles away from the nearest Fantasy Gifts in Burnsville meant 18 fewer driving miles for her customers in Northfield, she said.
When they opened a store in Burnsville, she said, a woman called and asked, "Do you really have a store in Burnsville?"Yes, we're right here," Bertino said.
"Great," said the woman on the line. "Now I'll never have to cross the river again."
Removing the stigma
Bertino, 41, grew up in Hopkins and in recent years has raised her profile as the public face of Fantasy Gifts, in part with a homespun TV commercial that began airing this summer and features her speaking directly to potential customers about the family store and its intention of being a female-friendly environment.
"I figured, if it works for Dick Enrico and Denny Hecker, it's got to work for me. I mean, hell, I'm better looking than they are," she joked. "It's another lovely thing about being over 40: You sort of grow into the idea that you just can't be embarrassed about stuff anymore."
In addition to the TV commercial, Bertino features herself on the company's website, hosts monthly podcasts about adult toys, and has in the past purchased space in a Minnesota Monthly ad supplement that showed her sitting at home, a cup of coffee in her hand.
Much of the reason for Bertino's increased exposure is her desire to speak directly to women, who she says comprise about 60 percent of her customer base. Home parties -- where groups of people and couples get together to see what's for sale -- are another vehicle for that.
"I know darn well that there is a large group of women who are still wondering what's behind that door," she said. "And ever since I put my face on TV and said, 'I'm not embarrassed to say I own it; you shouldn't be embarrassed to come shopping,' -- they're walking through the door."
An atypical mom-and-pop shop
Bertino runs the business with her brother and sister. It was started more than 25 years ago by her father, Robert, who had been running a general gift store and noticed that his sexier stock sold well. He saw an episode of "The Phil Donahue Show" that was devoted to sex toys and the women in the audience clearly were interested.
Fantasy Gifts was born.
Was it odd growing up in a family where sex accessories were the family business?
Not really, Bertino said, although there have been times when she has been browsing through wholesale catalogues of sex toys with her mother and it has hit her.
"Every now and then I sort of see it from the outside and go: 'This is funny.' But most of the time, it was just business. My parents were never embarrassed; we were never embarrassed."
The company has headquarters in a 15,000-square-foot building in Edina, where every staffer began with the company as a part-time store clerk. The front office has the informal feel of any small family business, with kids playing and spare personal effects stored in the hallways. The back offices, where behind closed doors a warehouse is stocked with adult products and other offices are crammed with explicit DVDs, is a different story.
"Here's the panty room," Bertino said, laughing. "Panties is just a funny word."
But essentially, the business is like any other, she said: Keep the stores neat and clean, keep the stock fresh and updated, and hire a knowledgeable staff.
Asked to play word-association on the idea of sex -- as in, "Sex is ... x" -- Bertino played along and offered "fun,"normal,"healthy" and "biological." But really, she said, maybe one should just remove the ellipses from sentence and leave it as "Sex is."And it sounds funny, but I've probably always thought that."
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=3DDLhtJJ</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=3DDLhtJJ) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=DZ23cOg4</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=DZ23cOg4) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=QkFZpxNb</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=QkFZpxNb) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=QiQ1xb2L</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=QiQ1xb2L)
More... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Sxxxyorg/~3/52401987/adult-stores-go-from-city-streets-to.html)
Colleen Bertino laughs a little when she recalls the fates of the two Fantasy Gifts stores her family once owned in Minneapolis.The downtown Minneapolis shop closed several years ago and reopened in Burnsville.
More recently, a store near the Uptown area of Minneapolis closed and lit out for the cheaper rent and more plentiful parking of Lakeville.
The burbs have been good to the Bertino family, owners of 13 sex-themed stores in Minnesota and New Jersey, most of them in strip malls -- or, in the case of the **** Rapids store, a former Taco Bell.
The family still owns and operates two stores in St. Paul, but Bertino, the chief operating officer, said the migration over the past decade into Fridley and **** Rapids, Burnsville and Bloomington, St. Louis Park and Crystal, was a conscious choice.
"I need to be where people live and where you can just pull up, park and walk in," she said. "Why do you think shopping doesn't do well downtown in general?"
The opening of the Lakeville shop 9 miles away from the nearest Fantasy Gifts in Burnsville meant 18 fewer driving miles for her customers in Northfield, she said.
When they opened a store in Burnsville, she said, a woman called and asked, "Do you really have a store in Burnsville?"Yes, we're right here," Bertino said.
"Great," said the woman on the line. "Now I'll never have to cross the river again."
Removing the stigma
Bertino, 41, grew up in Hopkins and in recent years has raised her profile as the public face of Fantasy Gifts, in part with a homespun TV commercial that began airing this summer and features her speaking directly to potential customers about the family store and its intention of being a female-friendly environment.
"I figured, if it works for Dick Enrico and Denny Hecker, it's got to work for me. I mean, hell, I'm better looking than they are," she joked. "It's another lovely thing about being over 40: You sort of grow into the idea that you just can't be embarrassed about stuff anymore."
In addition to the TV commercial, Bertino features herself on the company's website, hosts monthly podcasts about adult toys, and has in the past purchased space in a Minnesota Monthly ad supplement that showed her sitting at home, a cup of coffee in her hand.
Much of the reason for Bertino's increased exposure is her desire to speak directly to women, who she says comprise about 60 percent of her customer base. Home parties -- where groups of people and couples get together to see what's for sale -- are another vehicle for that.
"I know darn well that there is a large group of women who are still wondering what's behind that door," she said. "And ever since I put my face on TV and said, 'I'm not embarrassed to say I own it; you shouldn't be embarrassed to come shopping,' -- they're walking through the door."
An atypical mom-and-pop shop
Bertino runs the business with her brother and sister. It was started more than 25 years ago by her father, Robert, who had been running a general gift store and noticed that his sexier stock sold well. He saw an episode of "The Phil Donahue Show" that was devoted to sex toys and the women in the audience clearly were interested.
Fantasy Gifts was born.
Was it odd growing up in a family where sex accessories were the family business?
Not really, Bertino said, although there have been times when she has been browsing through wholesale catalogues of sex toys with her mother and it has hit her.
"Every now and then I sort of see it from the outside and go: 'This is funny.' But most of the time, it was just business. My parents were never embarrassed; we were never embarrassed."
The company has headquarters in a 15,000-square-foot building in Edina, where every staffer began with the company as a part-time store clerk. The front office has the informal feel of any small family business, with kids playing and spare personal effects stored in the hallways. The back offices, where behind closed doors a warehouse is stocked with adult products and other offices are crammed with explicit DVDs, is a different story.
"Here's the panty room," Bertino said, laughing. "Panties is just a funny word."
But essentially, the business is like any other, she said: Keep the stores neat and clean, keep the stock fresh and updated, and hire a knowledgeable staff.
Asked to play word-association on the idea of sex -- as in, "Sex is ... x" -- Bertino played along and offered "fun,"normal,"healthy" and "biological." But really, she said, maybe one should just remove the ellipses from sentence and leave it as "Sex is."And it sounds funny, but I've probably always thought that."
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=3DDLhtJJ</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=3DDLhtJJ) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=DZ23cOg4</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=DZ23cOg4) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=QkFZpxNb</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=QkFZpxNb) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=QiQ1xb2L</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=QiQ1xb2L)
More... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Sxxxyorg/~3/52401987/adult-stores-go-from-city-streets-to.html)