Sexual Guidelines

‘Hi, how are you? Would you mind having a cup of tea or coffee?’ It’s not a waiter’s welcome but the approach customers are greeted at Sh! Sh! is London’s first sex shop for women and has been getting thriving business since 1992. Manager of Sh!, Renee Denyer said ‘We have regular customers who come to the store and happily spend 300-500 pounds in an hour.’ Denyer said ‘The online business is also good, but is looking ways of optimizing it. Customers prefer to visit the shop as they get to meet the Sh! Girlz (saleswomen), drink cups of tea as they browse, squeeze or touch the goodies.’ Getting around an adult toy store, with a hot cup of tea must warm custmers’ senses anyway.

Couples like heterosexuals to LGBTs (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transvestite) visit the shop and pick from a collection of products. The shop has trained staff to guide the buyers to pick from hardcore DVD, magazines, fetish wear lingerie, toys, as well as bondage kit for both sexes. Price initiates from 99 pence for a lubricant sachet to an astonishing 500 pounds for a contraction machine. The buyers who are common such shops in London, age limits are between18 and 82 years. However, at Sh!, men are not allowed except they are with any woman. Denyer said ‘Our women-only policy makes a huge difference, women feel comfortable and safe at the store, there are no men peering at them.’

Previously, such shops were typically found in Soho. The place is located in centre of the west end of London. It was famous for its disgrace on sex shops, some entertainment industry and busy nightlife. However, times have changed and now such shops are not veiled in grayish by-lanes or from the curious eyes of passersby. One can see now these shops like Harmony and Ann Summers striving for attention amongst clothing shops and department stores at London’s busy Oxford Street. The decoration with baby pink or dark shades through black combinations or striking frilly curtains cannot to get missed by naughty eyes.

Sales and customer care assistant of Harmony, Sarah Marchant comments ‘everyone’s sexuality is vibrant and people from all walks of life come to the shop and buy what they want’. Marchant’s assumptions were true because one can see young, middle or elderly aged men and women are purchasing different adult toys without any inhibitions. A consumer in her late 70s, but looks younger than her age told ‘I lost my husband four years ago after four decades of married life, but thanks to these aides am still enjoying my libido.’ Marchant has been involving at Harmony for last two years and thinks individuals with money and steady jobs buy adult toys.

Harmony has got a long way since it inaugurated its business in Oxford Street five years ago. Now they open more branches. Here window displays are firmly restricted to lingerie and one cannot see mannequins with adult toys.

Norwich based market Analyst Company Hewson Group reported in spite of recession, adult toys trade in London like hot cakes. The existing adult toy market in UK is significance 250 million pounds. The Group recently made a street survey to identify what lady shoppers actually want for ‘erotic goods’. Research director of the Hewson Group Judy Pearce said ‘The reasons are, as you would expect, complex. Excitement and enhancement in sex would be simple answers.’ Pearce expects the trade of adult toys in UK at worth well more than a billion pounds by 2014.

The National Health Service (NHS) has been advising such toys to women with complexity in getting orgasm since the opening of this decade. Though NHS warns sexually transmitted diseases could be transmitted if such sex toys are shared or not cleaned properly after use. NHS is a public funded healthcare system in UK.