Penthouse is dead, but here in Connecticut, a different Penthouse headline is turning heads. Here, it’s the first-ever Penthouse-licensed erotic boutique. Penthouse Boutique will open its doors later today and because it’s located in a “gold coast” town that has more than its fair share of porn shops, it’s drawing protests.
Now, the interesting thing is that this store is as big box as a Home Depot. It’s well-lit and its merchandise doesn’t cater exclusively to men; it caters to couples as well. It doesn’t have live, nude dancers and I suspect it lacks peep show booths as well. I bet it’s strictly adult merchandise for purchase and nothing else. It’s not your father’s Time Square porn palace, and I hestitate to even call it an adult bookstore, let alone porn shop.
But, of course, the protesters don’t see that. They see yet another porn shop opening in their town, and this one’s visible enough to serve as their breaking point.
Now, in some respects, I get their frustration. Milford’s become something of a “last chance for porn” on I-95 as commuters and truckers do the congested coastal shuffle. Worse, the town’s one attempt to regulate porn shops resulted in the older, sleazier stores getting grandfathered in. While newer adult stores have stronger legitimacy via zoning laws, the older stores — many of which might well produce some of the social sleeze people can rightly complain about — tenaciously remain in place. It was a no-win solution for neighborhoods.
But newer businesses in zoned-for-adult areas have legitimacy. Both zoning regulations and constitutional rulings say so. And these businesses are smart enough to know that peep shows and live girls, in these days of easy DVD sales, aren’t worth the effort.
Sure, today’s opening will attract a lot of young men, keen on porn celebrity, but once the furvor dies down on both the protester and consumer sides, a completely different kind of customer will emerge as a customer staple for Penthouse Boutique: couples. Yes, couples. Everyday people who enjoy sex and want to shop for some adventurous products to take home for private use.
That’s a whole new demographic for the town of Milford to deal with. I bet they hadn’t count on that and they’ll find it a far cry from the porn sleeze of yesteryear.
