What an interesting experience.
I walked in and the first thing to hit me was a very sweet smell that I can only describe as what you would expect a brothel to have smelled like back in the Old West (minus the filthy cowboy stank). It was actually quite nice! It's better than most sex shops I've been to where it smells like lube and burning tires.
Next, I was greeted by a very cheery woman in her early 20's. According to my receipt, her name was Jasmin. She was short and cute with dark hair. This girl knew her business. I mean, she was just awesome with regard to friendliness, knowledge, and salesmanship. Now, I'm no prude, but her matter-of-fact tone about certain things almost made me burst into laughter. Even now, two days later, I don't know if it was nervous laughter or just because she was so freakin' serious about sex toys!
Being a man in a female dominated (no pun intended) environment, I was probably just a little shell shocked.
Anyway, they have a nice selection of just about anything you could ever want in here. I noticed that most of their toys and accessories are pretty well priced. For example, their We Vibe was $159. The same one on a "Prime" mail order site that got its start with books was $135. One of the items I bought was $13 and the online store had it for $11. So, if you're in a pinch and have some evening activities planned, this is a great place to go because it's what I would consider a reasonable mark-up for the instant gratification of getting it now instead of waiting 2 or 3 days for the mail.
One thing I liked was that Jasmin was very knowledgable. She even admitted to having tried almost all of the toys she was recommending (which caused me to go into a blank stare for a minute as hilarious mental pictures of her "trying out the stock" on the store's display tables flooded my brain). They have display models that you can play with (no, not like that) so you can feel them and get a sense of their "intensity."
One thing I didn't like was the "up-sell" tactics, but it's part of sales and I can't fault Jasmin for that. I'm sure this is how she was taught to handle customers. I was looking for something simple and inexpensive because toys for my wife and I are more of a joke. We use them once or twice, giggle like idiots about it, and then never use it again. While some of the toys seem pretty amazing (like the aforementioned We Vibe), I just can't justify spending that much. In any case, whenever I'd say "simple" or "inexpensive," I would be directed to one, but not the other. Either it was simple and expensive, or ridiculous and inexpensive (or even inexpensive and seemingly unenjoyable).
Another thing I wasn't a fan of was the "hang around." The sales staff says they'll let you look, but then they just stand ten feet away and watch you. Maybe they've had theft problems or something, but it was kind of uncomfortable. It's great if you have a question, but kind weird if you want to start playing with the toys to check them out. It kind of just made me feel like a pervert.
I bet this place would be better served with one male sales representative who can deal with male customers. I mean, I think most men, especially those less educated than I, would be more comfortable talking to another guy. Plus, I bet a male salesman could upwell very well to other men since guys tend to spend more when pushed by another guy (especially when it comes to anything for a spouse/girlfriend/playmate). Overall though, I understand that they need to make sales, but the up-sell tactics are a bit annoying. In fact, I probably would have spent more money here on something I really wanted as opposed to just walking away because I was being pushed toward expensive things I knew I'd only use a few times. I'm not cheap and I'm not poor, but spending $150 on a c-tickler just isn't practical in my mind because I know it would be a novelty that my wife and I would use 3-5 times before it was relegated to the darkest reaches of our giant chest filled with minimally used bedroom apparatuses.
Finally, don't joke around too much. These people take hanky panky very seriously. I made a few self-depricating jokes to lighten the mood and got a few dirty looks. My sales girl was very polite and didn't give me the dirty looks, but the other sales reps did. Hey, I can talk about filthy stuff on the internet and with friends, but it's a little awkward telling those details to a total stranger who just admitted to "working' one out" with the pulsating phallus you just picked up.
In the end, come here if you need sexy time implements immediately. State an item and a price with the salesperson and stick to it or else you might get pointed in directions you don't want to go. And try to keep a straight face as the sales person says hilarious anatomical words while making hand gestures and explaining how they used it on themselves. read more
