Monday, September 30, 2024

L'Amour Shoppe: yes it is owned by a man named Steven Weiner


 I wrote a piece on L'amour Shoppe that got killed by the publication. It makes sense, it is a conservative publication and the article is frank about sex. 

My favorite part of writing this was my time interviewing the very charismatic worker, Anthony. This piece would have been different (more freewheeling, dirtier) if I hadn't been writing it for this pub, but nevertheless I feel like it should see the light of day. I feel bad about the 2 employees taking time to talk to me  and then not knowing why they never heard anything else about it.

Also, I did not include that two workers were murdered in robberies in L'Amour Shoppe in separate incidents in the 80s. Well, one was actually the friend of a worker who filled in while his friend took a break and was murdered by a robber. Very sad.

L’Amour for Sale

Forbidding on the outside, with blacked out windows on which the extensive hours (9am-1am every day) are scrawled, the interior of L’Amour Shoppe is a cheerful, well-stocked oasis of sex positivity.

On the day this reporter visits, that vibe is emanating from salesclerk Anthony Chiaramonte, who has worked for the L’Amour Shoppe for seven months, after a long career in retail working for other adult shops –but also selling everything from marijuana to solar panels. With the long, straight hair of a rocker and elegantly tapered nails, Chiaramonte explains that selling sex toys is not that different from selling anything else, except that the goal is not a new pair of sneakers, but “orgasmic pleasure”.

As for why in this era of one-day Amazon Prime deliveries, folks still come in to purchase an item that might cause some a bit of embarrassment, he enthuses, “It’s all about that old school touch and feel and to put it in my hands really familiarize myself with what I’m getting…the people who come in here for the first time, they’re walking on eggshells and ready to ask a ton of questions but don’t know where to start. I’m definitely that person to ask…this is sex it should be FUN, and it should be pleasurable, and it should bring a smile to your face so let’s talk about it and see what’s out there and let’s talk about the possibilities.”

One such couple, seemingly in their early 40s, enters while he’s being interviewed, with the female in the couple sending the man in first to scout out whether it’s safe inside. She says, “The front is so 1980s, I was like, ‘I don’t think they have anything in there honey. And he said, ‘I’m just going to go look.’ Then he comes out and he says, "It's just normal: normal people, normal stuff.” Within moments, Chiaramonte has them relaxed and laughing giddily, as he says, “I’m like a marriage counselor and a sex therapist and your best friend all in one” as they browse.

It may be the personal touch (and free batteries, for toys that require them, although most these days are USB rechargable) bringing folks in to L’Amour Shoppe, and the market for sex toys is only growing. According to a market research firm, US sex toys sales (the US accounts for 33% of all sales globally) reached 12.6 billion dollars in 2021, and are projected to grow over 7% by the year 2026. Further, this firm concluded that the association of masturbation with wellness and self-care, the lessening of stigma around male-focused sex toys, and the increasing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community are some factors behind this increase in sales.

As he gives a tour of the merchandise, Chiaramonte’s observations back up this research. He said some of the top sellers for women are brightly-hued, silicon-coated clitoral suction toys that are a variation on the rose-shaped toy that went viral on TikTok in 2022. Sex toys have gone so mainstream that this shape of toy was reviewed on the NY Times Wirecutter product review page; a suction-type toy is also sold on Gwyneth Paltrow’s trendsetting wellness website Goop.com.

Blunt, but never vulgar, Chiaramonte says from his time working in similar shops since 2004, he has seen the most increase in one genre of toys, “Butt. Twenty years ago it was so taboo, you were part of the butt club or you were not…That’s where I’ve seen the most growth in terms of technology and interest, especially hetero couples."

Chiaramonte shares staff theories about the history of the building, including the thought that it was a Chinese restaurant at one point, but a search of newspaper archives reveals that the building was built in the 1930s and was initially Hewitt’s Grocery Store. After that it was Fancy Shirt Laundry, which became Fancy’s Adult Books and Things in 1978. The first record of L’Amour Book Shoppe is in 1986 (a year in which the city shut down their peep-show booth, as well as four others in Sacramento). 

L’Amour Shoppe is more accurately termed L’amour Shoppe #7: the owner, Steven Weiner,  owns 6 others throughout the state from Santa Clara to Modesto, and other sex shops as far-flung as Texas. He declined to be interviewed for this article.

Winona Fulgencio manages L’amour, as well as Weiner-owned Intimates and Adult Bookstore in Lodi. She left the medical field, saying she needed a “mental break”, and started working at the Lodi store early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Within 3 months she was a manager there and then became the manager at L’amour in late 2021.

She does research to find the hottest new toys and also relies on friend’s recommendations, she says the job is “rewarding…it’s a good company to work for.”  

As to the forbidding exterior, she said that COVID stalled a planned facelift, “Corporate is trying to figure out a way to revamp…make it a little nicer.”

Asked to sum up her message for new customers who may be wary, Fulgencio echoes Chiaramonte in saying that there are benefits to seeing a toy in person, “A lot of people complain that when they order a toy off of Amazon it’s not what they like. They throw it away and come see us. They can test out the toys and see what they like. Or they come for lube or lingerie, and remember that we helped them…we’re trying to instill that we’ve changed management and we can provide customer service.”


Friday, September 20, 2024

Kru

 I'm almost embarrassed to admit how long it's been since I've been to Kru. I think 2019 yikes. I mean, there was a whole ass pandemic. But also, I put it into the category of places that are hard to get into and I forget about those places. But with Sac only having a double handful or so of date night restaurants I need to go more often.

We started with one bite of a warm scallop with teeny shrimp chips and a sauce made with roe of some kind. Then I got various nigiri, including uni and ikura, two faves. I hadn't realized that their cocktail list is so extensive, with multiple pages. I had what they were billing as a Japanese negroni but I just don't like negronis. It had a shiso leaf, and Japanese gin, and I fell for it because they said it had Japanese vermouth but it was still too syrupy for me. Then I ended the eve with pluot sorbet and a classic highball. Very nice night with some little luxurious extras sent out.

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Being alive

 

Went with CH to see my first live Sondheim last night. I really enjoyed it although I don't know why Broadway shows are all so loonnnnnggg. I won tickets through my work. 

I knew a lot of the songs and I wasn't sure why, except for Being Alive being sung by Adam Driver in the Scenes from a Marriage remake (which I did not like). But then I realized that the thrilling DA Pennebaker Sondheim doc is on the making of the cast album from Company.

You should watch this doc! It's on Criterion. It's less than an hour and it's a fun glimpse into the creative process. The best part is Elaine Stritch struggling with Ladies Who Lunch.

I think I kind of got the Sondheim thing last night, the lightness and depth. It's very old-fashioned feeling, though. Company came out in 1970, so it is literally old. This new productions does a gender swap, where the protagonist is a woman. That gives it a bit of modernity. It's about whether to marry or not, and in 1970 probably no woman would even think of it as a question. 




Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Onibaba: Demon Hag

 


Well hello. Blogspot was a total fail as a way to announce the Halloween show and let people call bands. Oh well, I was looking forward to a Heckasacassance that did not happen.

That's fine, let's just blow the dust off and hawk tuah this thing amiright?

Let's see, Zelda's went under. I had already pre-grieved as they said on Succession. Going back to five years ago when Zelda's son, who had a Trumpy vibe, talked about wanting to sell and move to Reno I thought it was not long for this world. RIP Zelda's. You ruled!

I just turned in a thing I wrote about German food and beer and culture for Comstock's. This one was a slow burner. I first pitched it in June, but the editor said it would be ok closer to Oktoberfest so I dilly dallied. I got to tour secret parts of Turn Verein and nerd out on German food and beer so that was very fun.

I also just turned in a thing I wrote on Onibaba for the Dreamland zine, I'm very excited about that. It was a joy to write something where I could let my mind roam free. As much as I appreciate the business mag work, it's very constrained. I got to do research for Onibaba too. And then I watched another Shindo movie last night, Naked Island, which was a silent movie (music, no dialogue) about a family with a very hard life and one of them dies. Grim!

What about that Halloween show huh? Still on kind of  a high from it TBH. Shoot it right into my veins. Glad we are having another one in spring. 

Gotta go to Corti Bros now, nice checking in! Leave a comment but I know blogspot makes you do some BS stuff like pick out pictures of traffic lights or answer the Sphynx's riddle or something.

Friday, March 01, 2024

Friday, November 10, 2023

Kanye in Sac

 My experiment to link Heckasac to Instagram did not work at all, it got me banned from following anyone or posting on Instagram! Either Instagram hates Blogspot or for some reason this blog has been dubbed obscene. Sigh, the modern world.

I'm listening to The Daily podcast, the NYT one, and they are talking about their in-depth article on Adidas and Kanye, and I love that Sac is in that pop culture pantheon for being the place he went on his 17 minute rant and canceled the tour. I will never forget booing so hard that I just about lost my voice the next day, and then how we left the arena fast enough to see his black SUV stop in the road, him pose with a fan, and speed off. And then how everyone was just roaming the streets, looking for somewhere to hang. I don't remember where we ended up. They mention him canceling but they don't mention how fucking late he started! And I remember folks going nuts when Kid Cudi joined him on the floating stage.

He sold so much merch that night, I just saw someone at Pizza Supreme rocking one of the long-sleeved tees the other day. 

Wednesday, November 08, 2023

Vollman talk

I am fasting for a "medical test" tomorrow (she's so discreet!) so you may be treated to a series of weak and increasingly unhinged posts. If you know me you know I usually never miss a meal!!!!!! 

True Anon podcast interviewed William Vollman. I had never listened to True Anon but I know of it as a well-known edgy podcast and the host Brace Belden is a friend of a friend. I knew of Brace who got a lot of news coverage a few years back when he went to fight in the Syrian civil war. 

Brace and Liz Franczak, the cohost, came to Sac recently to interview Vollman, who has a studio in a barbed wire compound in Alkali Flat.

Vollman says he heard a story that the first mayor of Sacramento was murdered by a homeless man in Alkali Flat but that he doesn't know for sure. The only reason that's a bit curious is that from my understanding of his nonfiction writing, he's done in-depth histories, so finding that out seems like no task for him, but maybe he prefers not to confirm. Googling reveals the first mayor was William Stout, who served 3 weeks. Where's Bill Burg when you need him?

Vollman's place has been broken into a lot, he's injured right now because of it, or maybe he also has had a car accident? I'm not clear on that. He mentions Loaves and Fishes, as a place that many people hate but I somewhat take issue with that. I think back in the day Loaves was a little more controversial but it's so obviously needed now. I'm sure he means businesses but businesses there have either been there forever and know the deal or who the hell would move a new business into that area not knowing what you are getting into?

They are ostensibly there to discuss his wonderful article in Harper's (please read!). It about homelessness and grief, and is set in Reno. I love it even more because he mostly interviewed the guys in the Cal-Neva, so I can picture the setting easily. Sadly, the Eggs McNeva do not make an appearance. 

The podcast interview is free-ranging and engrossing. I've only listened to part 1. I need to read some more Vollman, I've only read non-fiction short pieces, but of course he won the National Book Award for fiction (famously, the same night other Sacramentan Joan Didion was honored). But I have to finish fucking Middlemarch first!!!!!!