I got an email tonight from a longtime Capitol Hill resident who plans to open a sexual resource center and toy boutique at 8th and H Street. She hopes to have The Garden up and running as early as this summer. Here's how she describes it:
I am creating a space in DC for folks of all genders and orientations to come and buy body safe sex positive products as well as take classes on everything from asking for what you want in bed to safe BDSM and from understanding your body to understanding and evaluating gender. There will be more classes than I can even think of right now! And it's queer woman owned!
And from the website:
The education space will also be available to rent during the day to body and sex positive educators, body workers, therapists, life/ wellness coaches, yoga instructors, acupuncturists....you name it.
63 comments:
Well if we can't get any pay toilets I guess this is the next best thing.
Good Deal!
wtf...
March Fools?
Ess,
100% serious. I actually think there could be a market for it. A friend (not remotely associated with this venture) floated a similar idea at a dinner party last year. It was an interesting discussion.
Awesome
Yes! Finally, we're seeing retail come to H Street NE!
A dildo shop! Brilliant!! I was just saying to myself yesterday that I could use a few more dildos and wishing there was a local shop where I could browse and purchase them in front of all my neighbors rather than ordering sex toys off the internet. I'm sure this will be a smashing success.
Fuck yeah! I won't have to go all the way to DuPont or U street to buy poppers!!!!
A similar shop in Georgetown seems to be a success and that's been there forever. So this will probably do just fine.
Bet you $10,000 this never gets off the ground
And I am opening a store for body safe HIV positive products. Not really.
When's the soft opening?
This is awesome news. I hope it's like Sugar in Baltimore-- sounds very similar, and that shop is the BOMB. If you guys have never been to a high class sex shop you have no idea what you are missing.
I won't be a fan of this store. This would be a huge success in Amesterdam, but not in Washington, DC and certainly not in this neighborhood.
For folks who want to shop on the internet... that's not going anywhere. For folks who want to actually touch a product (more than dildos!) and ask questions, this sounds like the place to do it. Sugar is the bomb and I'm glad that DC'll be getting something like it.
@emo, I know the woman opening it... I take your bet!
DC needs this, there is a huge community who've been looking for and and who are now supporting making it happen.
but, I'll admit, sex is not for everyone.
...that's when the whores come in...
have they done a voluntary agreement?
will they be playing live music?
This would have worked- if it weren't for that darned Al Gore and his invention of the internet!
God forbid sex be addressed in an open and approachable way. Next you'll say women should take ownership of their bodies!
To the naysayers, look up Toys in Babeland. Similar model and wildly successful. Great place to shop.
I think it really just depends on the business model. Obviously many/most stores that sell sex-related merchandise are dark and seedy and gross, and if that's what this is going to be, then that is definitely a step in the wrong direction for H Street.
However, if it's like some of the higher-end shops I've seen in other cities -- the kind of shop that is clean and well-lit, that offers workshops and classes for singles and couples, and that employs friendly and approachable employees that are knowledgeable and unembarrassed by the subject matter -- then I'm A-OK with it. Thankfully, it sounds like that kind of shop.
you crowing Anons must have the least exciting sex lives in the city.
The retail phase of H Street's revival continues! So lets see there was the news of Giant, Atlas Vet, Ace Hardware, now The Garden....seems like I'm forgetting something. Oh well. good news either way!
Everyone forgets about Metro Mutts. Also, there is a sex shop in the back of Capitol Hill Video on 8th street - barracks row. It's been there for Years. Check it out, pervs... ;)
"soft opening"... love it!
I just hope there will be video booths. (kidding!)
Capitol Hill video closed months ago and the "sex shop" in the back was the kind that one of the anon's mentioned before...seedy, and no one knew it was there.
This place will be the second kind they mentioned a well lit space, educated and friendly staff and high quality products.
@Dave B, not sure if you're asking if the whores will be playing live music... I suppose it's always possible but that depends on your definition of whores.
It's not like one of those seedy places where pervy, embarrassed looking people browse a dark video section. It will more likely bring a much different clientele.
I agree with above... these people must have boring sex lives if they think negatively of a store which seeks to be (and seeks out people who want to be) educated and fun about sex, in an open and non-embarrassed way.
"...Feminazis, here's the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex. We want something for it. We want you post the videos online so we can all watch."
Anal beads, here i come!
I went to cap hill video yesterday for a new butt plug. Why are you saying its closed?
Ummm. Commenters here really have never seen a community-positive sexual education/toy shop before? Wow. Well, don't worry, they are great- clean, bright, friendly staff, and discreet; these types of stores attract sex-positive people and create community, especially with young people, couples, and gay communities, of which DC has plenty. It's a boutique, not the kind of place with blacked out windows and endless rows of questionable porn DVDs. 100% different than the seedy shops you may already be acquainted with.
Anal beads? More like banal beads!
Says the "clean, bright, friendly staff"
This place will probably fail, if it opens. I just don't think the demand will be there.
My favorite comment so far was from ANON Mar 2, 2012 9:08:00 AM:
"I won't be a fan of this store. This would be a huge success in Amesterdam, but not in Washington, DC and certainly not in this neighborhood."
Speak for yourself, sister. My guess is that you don't know much about the sex lives of others in DC. This looks like it will be a great addition to a street that is not afraid to be different, and I hope it will also spur the opening of an LGBT-oriented book shop, coffee shop of bar.
@John, why must there be a "bookshop, coffee shop or bar" that is LGBT-oriented? Why can't these services serve all folks, regardless of sexual orientation?
anon 2:01,
There is plenty of demand. I think this is a fantastic option for retail on H! A great example of a retail shop that can survive in the internet era.
John, I really hope that bookstore is something like this. Can life imitate art just once please?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohk-Ey01c9k
This thread is awesome. Keep it at the top of the blog forever. I just wanna hang out in there when child and parent run into each other there, or coworkers, or basically any two people that know each other.
Do they give you a mask to put on your face when you go in?
This will actually be good for importing money into our hood. Nobody goes to the sex shop in their own neighborhood
Dave B, I think you're missing the whole point of "sex positive".
Not everybody feels the need to hide their heads in shame at the idea of actually having/enjoying/experimenting with sex. It's 2012.
I used to go to the sex shop in my old neighborhood all the time. And so did lots of people. It was not a place that made you feel seedy upon going in ;) Well lit, boutique feel.
But if there aren't many places like this in DC (by these silly comments, I'm guessing there are not), maybe it WILL bring people in
There aren't really places like this here. There's the place on U St. but it's really small and not much product.This place will have classes too which will be fun. You should feel as comfortable going into a store like this as you do going into any other boutique store. Just about everyone has sex but from what folks on here are saying it looks like there's a significant need for some education!
Strictly missionary for the sole purposes of procreation. The rest of you sicken me.
Sounds like a good idea. Unregulated, driven by free market forces, that is the kind of business we should all welcome. She should open it as soon as possible (before EPA, FDA, or some other government agency tries to regulate/overtax the sex toy/sex education market.)
I also need a new butt plug. My old one is too small. Guess I've outgrown it. HA HA HA!
This is disgusting. I bought a house on Capital Hill to get away from this type of perversion. My neighbors and me will not be subjected to this invasion. We will fight. In the name of the light.
You bought a house some where in DC and you thought you were getting away from perversion. What city do you think you live in? Did you forget that they shut down some happy ending massage parlors over near barrack row? Did you forget about 100 tranny hookers ply their trade about 10 blocks from Cap Hill? Plus this store looks like it is trying to be respectful and upscale. Some people do like a little adventure in their life.
If you don't like the store, don't go in it. DC isn't Mayberry.
Jody D needs a buttplug stat
Newsflash Jody D, H St and Cap Hill? Not the same. At all. Stay out of our business and we'll gladly stay out of yours. In fact, why don't you and your neighbors just go toward the light and leave the rest of us alone?
I'm pretty sure some of these comments, including Jody D's, are just troll-bait. It'll all be fine. Some day America will feel comfortable touching itself and others.
I like to touch deep inside.
I guess some people have to pay to use the toilet.
Looking forward to seeing something other than a restaurant on H Street!
Wow, so much ignorance in on place! This sounds like it follows in the footsteps of stores like Toys in Babeland, which I've long thought should open a branch in DC. I suspect all the naysayers have never encountered this type of sex store - it's about as seedy as a bank lobby. The stereotypical skeezy sex shop patron would feel very, very out of place in a shop like this. It would be a positive addition to the area.
Sex is a vital part of the human experience. The healthy among us embrace that and live happier, fuller lives for it.
I am totally stunned by all the pro-sex shop comments on here. Guess it speaks to the volume of young naive readers hear on Frozen Tropics. Un leash your hate on me if you want, but I can't believe people are not outragged by something like this coming to H St.
Signed,
A liberal with high values for community decency.
Anon 10:05,
I don't think it's fair to assume that people writing in support of the boutique are young, or naive. I've had discussions with several people about this shop (some where they brought it up, and others where I brought it up). The people who seem most excited by it are in their early to late 30s. Some are married, and some are single.
It just doesn't sound like a problematic business to me. You know what does sound a little problematic to me? Having some random anonymous guy on the internet define the standards for community decency for everyone else. Just something to consider.
Anon@10:05
I'm totally stunned that a self-professed liberal has such a closed mind. You really need to reconsider what you know about 'sex shops' if you think this is some kind of blight on the community. Using the aforementioned Toys in Babeland (or, apparently, now just Babeland) example, their Seattle store has a 4.5 rating on Yelp:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/babeland-seattle
Seriously, read through some of the reviews and see if maybe the issue is your preconceptions of what a sex shop should be, instead of what this sounds like it is.
Sex is not indecent, but if it was... is the H st area really known for being the picture of "decency"? Perhaps you are living in the wrong place...
What is sex positive? it is an understanding that sex is healthy and that physical joy is necessary. It is claiming ones own body and sexuality. And it is about letting your self play.
What is not sex positive? Judgement.
Jessica
Owner
The Garden
I just wanna get it in!
Jessica, you are awesome.
Pole in the hole. What's the big deal?
@gonzo, Thanks!!
Sex is, or at least can be, about so much more than a pole in the hole. I hope that what I am bringing to DC will help the people (who are open to experiencing) realize that.
For those concerned, feel free to ask questions, that's the best way to get your answer ;-)
Jessica
Well, I guess you're right, it's pole in the hole then out, then back in....rinse, repeat...
I'm really excited about this! I'm a huge fan of the sex-positive shop Self Serve in Albuquerque and have been looking for a replacement ever since I moved. Her approach is right-on... and there's a huge market in DC!
I met the woman, and she's amazing. Sex shops everywhere will ALWAYS be successful. She's also offering a lot of products for people who are sensitive to things like latex, and some of the ingredients in lube. It's ludicrous to think that sex needs to be hidden. We are too forward thinking for that. I know I am very much looking forward to being there.
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