Smut Peddler

This is the greatest.

Yesterday I mentioned (via the Iowa City Press-Citizen) how a "feminist sex shop" called Ruby's Pearl in Iowa City was going out of business.

Here's the full story from the Daily Iowan today, by reporter Nick Petersen. This is awesome writing:

Women looking to satisfy their mental, emotional, and physical needs with sex toys, literature, and workshops will have to look elsewhere when Iowa City's only feminist sex shop closes on March 26.

Four years after Ruby's Pearl, 323 E. Market St., opened, the shop will close because of financial troubles.

"It's like total emotional sadness," co-owner Laura Crossley said. "Ruby's Pearl is a community corner. When a part of your community loses its space, it's heartbreaking."

Heather Daggett, another co-owner, was in the otherwise empty store with Crossley on Thursday wearing a shirt with "smut peddler" printed across it.

She said that the store hasn't been able grow fast enough since they moved the establishment from a location on Linn Street to compete for sales of sex toys, especially because of the Internet.

"It was a combination of people not being able to find us when we moved to a new location and the poor economy," Crossley said. "We still have people show up and say, 'I thought you were gone.' "

She said the business relies heavily on regular customers - who, she added, haven't been taking the announcement well.

Almost on cue, a customer walked into the store, instantly extending both of her arms to console Crossley with a hug.

"I just wanted to say hi," the customer said. "The time's gone really fast."

Ruby's Pearl opened in February 2001 on Linn Street, offering sex toys, literature, and a forum for art, films, and sex-education workshops. It later moved to its current location on Market Street.

"The idea behind the store was to have a positive, clean, fun environment to buy sex toys," Daggett said. "To have an alternative place for women to buy fun stuff in a shop that's not creepy."

In a flier, the store's owners directed their customers to the Smitten Kitten in Minneapolis, because, they said, it mirrors the mission of Ruby's Pearl.

Daggett said there's a niche in the area that will open up once her store closes, and she noted that the store is one of eight of its kind in the nation.

The owners will leave their business plan with the Emma Goldman Clinic, 227 N. Dubuque St., a feminist reproductive-health center.

Jim Griffin, the president of the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, said that the closure was a rarity in an area economy that he said has been favorable for small business.

"We're really beginning to get a lot of momentum for support for small businesses," he said.

I guess Ruby's Pearl just didn't create enough buzz in the community. Perhaps the vibe wasn't right. A small business is hard to insert anywhere, so you really have to strap-on for the long haul. (Stop it!!! - Ed.)

They really should have blamed it on the threat of the 25% dildo tax in Iowa, which was largely supported by Democrats from the Iowa City and Eastern Iowa region.