Page 49 - AVN August 2016

INVENTORY
One thing seems clear and that is that adult retail is no longer
primarily about DVDs. With Adam & Eve, says Keegan, “DVDs are
down to 4 percent of inventory.” He expects that percentage to hold
for the next five years, decreasing to no less than 3 percent. He asserts,
“People will still by buying DVDs.”
Hustler’s Del Rio agrees. “People will always buy DVDs in my
opinion, but the inventory and the footprint has to be relative to the
demand. I see a lot of retailers out there still merchandising 30-40
percent of their floors with DVDs and it boggles my mind. I know
DVDs can’t be contributing 40 percent of their business. We inventory
and merchandise our stores according to what the customers want
to see and experience. We are increasing our inventory of toys and
lingerie. Those two categories go hand in hand for us.”
The Pleasure Chest stores have a somewhat different perspective.
Victor Tobar, the chain’s national buying and merchandising manager,
says, “Because of how internet-focused the video market has become,
it’s interesting to see how people are shopping for DVDs and what
they’re looking for in our stores. We’re definitely not carrying fewer
titles, but we are focusing more on shopping trends, to try to keep our
stock relevant to what our customers are looking for.”
For the Lion’s Den chain, according to Senior Vice President Mark L.
Miller, “Adult toys, fetish, lingerie, lubes/lotions, smoking accessories
and stimulants are all leading growth categories for the Lion’s Den
stores. We also continue to have a very strong DVD business.”
Adam & Eve’s Keegan places pleasure product sales at 65-70
percent, soft goods around 30 percent. “Soft goods [includes lingerie,
games, jewelry, perfume, hosiery, shoes] 35 to 90 percent. Lingerie:
60 percent hanging, 40 percent boxed. The percentage of boxes has
increased because they’re of a higher quality than they used to be.”
Pleasure products in stores, he says, “go from a low of 10 percent to a
high of 35 percent, in most stores about 25 percent.”
TRENDS
Here’s what’s trending at the Pleasure Chest, where, according to
Tobar, “there’s always a customer who’s looking for every toy we
carry.” He says that “new takes” on classics, “like the Rechargeable
Magic Wand and the new Fleshlight Quickshot and Ice products are
most popular this season. The We-Vibe Nova offers a new spin on the
classic rabbit-style toy, and that’s also gaining popularity at our stores.
“Our customers are also gravitating more and more toward our
kink sections, with light bondage and impact toys seeing an uptick.
New innovations like the bVibe rimming plug and the Womanizer Pro
are also expanding the possibilities of sex-toy play, and they’re really
popular at the Pleasure Chest right now.”
The Womanizer—“a big new trend”—is also galvanizing sales at
Adam & Eve stores, according to Keegan. In the future he looks to the
area of virtual reality for the next big thing.
At Good Vibrations, says Executive Vice President Jackie Rednour-
Bruckman, trends involve “body-safe materials, new Pleasure Works
Firm Core Silicone dildos (dual density), Consent and Sex Positive
culture, no body shaming!
“Way fewer physical DVDs, but we have our own digital feminist
porn site called GoodVibrationsVOD.com. We feature sex education
movies at some of the stores, especially our Pleasure Ed line that
features How To on topics like fellatio, cunnilingus and female
ejaculation.”
Above, guests at the grand opening of Hustler’s new store on Hollywood Boulevard.
Photo by Chris King/ReelSeduction.com
Adult toys, fetish, lingerie, lubes/lotions,
smoking accessories and stimulants are all
leading growth categories. We also continue
to have a very strong DVD business.
“
—Mark L. Miller,
senior vice president, Lion’s Den stores
SUPPLY & DEMAND
Mark Franks, CEO of the Castle Megastore chain, sums up his take on today’s market in one
word: over-saturation. The Castle chain, he says, “has 16 stores with 145,000 feet of retail
space—and there’s no place to put all the product.”
“People are making similar products, hundreds of the same things already on the market. It’s
just like the video business 10 years ago. They can’t sell their products in stores so they start
selling them anywhere they can, online, at Amazon.com. … It’s the worst trend and it’s going
to get even worse.”
Franks compares it to porn in the 1990s, “when you could sell everything you made. Over-
supply of product: in those days the market could take it. But it turned in the late ’90s. Video
guys jumped into the toy business.
“There is too much repetitive product being made that the market cannot absorb. Everything
looks the same, butt-plugs, cocks, etc., all coming from the same factories—hundreds of the
same things already on the market. There’s a need for more unique product.
“People are fishing in the same pond. It’s beginning to shake out. Customers are smarter
these days. People can’t buy what they can’t sell.”
Still, he concludes, “Castle Megastores are doing very well. Our business is very strong.
We’re not a discounter, we know what to carry—things that any good retailer would do.”
Hustler Hollywood’s Del Rio echoes Franks’ concerns. “Hustler is looking for innovation and
quality because that is what our customer is looking for. We are all tired of the same stuff in a
different package.
“I think our good vendors know this, especially after the last couple of years, and they are no
longer hitting the market with hundreds of ‘new’ items per season or at every show. The reality
was that none of these ‘new’ items were innovative. Now the brands seem to be releasing fewer
items each season but focusing on true innovation. In other words, quality over quantity.”
“We’ve tried to remain flexible with our inventory,” says Lion’s Den’s Miller. “That flexibility
allows us to increase and decrease items within categories to match seasonality and the ever-
changing tastes of our customers. We’ve also learned to allow for some individuality among the
stores as well. With 45 stores in 23 states, preferences and trends differ greatly. As a result, our
purchasing department and operations leadership work together to make sure that each store
has exactly what it needs, when it needs it.”
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