Page 62 - AVN August 2018

FEATURE | YEAR IN PARTIES
FEATURE |
not up to our standards for both our domestic and
imported products, we reject it. It’s that simple.”
Product development is what keeps Sportsheets
ahead of the competition. “Of course, everyone wants
to know ‘What’s new?’ both at the wholesale level
and the customer in the retail store,” added Joanne
Queenin, Sportsheets’ longtime marketing director.
“We keep products on the market for one and a half to
two years to give them time to gain traction and if they
don’t prove to be strong sellers within that time, then
we pull them. We have to stay nimble, not only for us
as a company but also for our buyers to keep the lines
fresh.”
Of course, with 25 years of manufacturing under
their belt, Sportsheets has been pleasantly surprised
by the success of several products they’ve released
over the years. “When the Fifty Shades of Grey books
came out, we thought it would be fun to release a gray
tie, which was featured on the cover of the first book.
Turns out we ended up selling over 120 thousand units
of them!” Joanne exclaimed.
Another best-selling surprise has been a recently
released mouth gag that sports a set of giant silicone
open lips in black, red or pink with a black leather
head strap. Brand Ambassador and Director of Sales
Emily Silva, who’s been with Sportsheets for ten years,
added, “Everyone always has a good laugh when they
see these, so it’s no wonder they’ve been so popular.
People don’t realize that BDSM can actually be fun,
too!”
Being on the road selling and demonstrating kinky
products and accessories for distributors and retailers
has kept Emily and the three other sales staffers
quite busy. Of course, there are always entertaining
experiences when showing store staff and their
customers what to do with products. Emily recalled,
“One time, I was demo-ing our best-selling Doggie
Style Strap, which fits around the hips of the person
receiving the action. I kind of felt something in
between us, looked down, and realized I still had on
a harness and dildo that I had just demonstrated a
moment earlier. Whoops! THAT was embarrassing!”
Still, many customers really get into volunteering as
models for testing out the various Sportsheets items.
Emily added, “Once I had to keep from laughing when
a woman bent over for a Doggie Style Strap demo and
exposed a few inches of butt crack. I didn’t want to
62 | AVN.com | 8.18
point it out to her—bet she didn’t expect to be a demo
model that night!”
Sportsheets was also the first company to use
in-house video screens and company-supplied
instructional videos to promote products at retail
stores around the country. “We started doing this
over 10 years ago,” Julie shared. “It worked for a time
but we also heard that many store staffers turned the
screens off because they didn’t want to hear them
again and again. With the changing times and way
customers get user information, now we’re more
focused to provide instructional videos online both on
our website and on other video platforms. We will be
updating a lot of our content in the very near future,
too.”
Most packaging will be upgraded in the following
months as well. “The images are going to be more
gender-fluid and diverse to reflect the wide range of
consumers who love the Sportsheets brand,” Joanne
commented. “Many of the packages will have windows
to allow the customer to touch the product yet keep
it clean in stores. The magnetic closing boxes are
also sturdy enough to ship without crushing, which
is important for our distributors, retailers and, most
importantly, our brand. We list every “ingredient” on
our packaging, including type of material and the fact
that all of our metal is nickel free. This is in response
“IF THE QUALITY IS NOT UP
TO OUR STANDARDS FOR
BOTH OUR DOMESTIC AND
IMPORTED PRODUCTS,
WE REJECT IT. IT’S THAT
SIMPLE.”
—JULIE STEWART
to those customers who do their research and are
concerned about what products are made of.”
Julie also mentioned that some of the lines may
change and fall under the original Sportsheets brand.
“We have many lines out there and while some of
them are pretty distinctive, we want to bring some
back to our core products. In fact, part of the new
Sportsheets branding includes our new logo, which all
of us here are very proud to be releasing this summer.
Look for it on all of our packaging, catalogs and
everything else created by our company. We’re now
focusing on the next 25 years for the brand!”
Sportsheets is also the epitome of “family business,”
not only with Tom and Julie in the COO and president
positions respectively, but the company also includes
their spouses. Tom’s wife, Kimberly, first worked with
Tom when they were merely friends and then officially
joined the company in 1998, shortly after they were
married. Julie’s husband, Eddie, moved west to join
Sportsheets and marry Julie after working for an East
Coast adult products distributor for many years. “It’s
funny,” Julie chuckled, “people always think that Tom
and I are husband and wife and get confused when we
tell them that Kimberly is married to Tom and Eddie is
married to me. It truly IS a family business!”
Tom Stewart’s entrepreneurial drive extends way
beyond the Sportsheets brand. He also devotes many
hours of training and expertise to the Coalition to
Salute America’s Heroes, a cause that’s close to him
given his many years in the Marines. He assists the
veterans in staying in their homes after deployment—
and most importantly, helping them on their road
to recovery after experiencing disabilities associated
with war service. Tom finds that he can relate to
these soldiers more effectively given his Marines
background and can encourage them to create their
new normal. He uses his product development skills
to innovate products, enabling them to easily adapt
to newly required sexual positions to enhance their
relationships. “Keeping Couples Connected” has long
been the motto of Sportsheets and his work with the
soldier’s program truly follows that mission.
So here’s to the next successful 25 years of “Keeping
Couples Connected” … and never having Tom Stewart
run out of gas again!
The Sportsheets staff partied with invited guests at the 25th anniversary bash,
held in the office parking lot, which was converted into a beach with the addition
of 52 tons of sand. The festivities began in the afternoon and continued well
after dark. Photos courtesy Sportsheets.