because your DVD sales should cover it. We’re paying £11,000 in Brighton and it’s getting a bit close to that tipping point. There will come a point where I’ll have to ask, is this worth having? For now, it still is for us, but it’s not always an easy thing to judge. If you’ve a low fee, I’d say that was still the way to go, with all the flexibility it brings for what stock you carry, beyond the R18s. Once you’re much over ten grand though - I know people who’ve not bothered to renew. A friend of mine in London has dropped R18 and is stocking fetishwear instead. He looked at his film sales and they just didn’t warrant what he was spending on a licence. Depending what your local authority charge you, there’s still money to be made from DVDs and we do get regular new stock from Erigo and Harmony.” The latest R18 DVD Releases section of ETO suggests ABS, LoadXXX, Scala UK, Pumpkin Media and Eurocreme amongst others are also regularly releasing new R18 films.
with John Lewis recording record trade volumes for March as sunny weather, an early Mother’s Day and the launch of the new iPad encouraged shoppers to spend. Against other areas of retail, most battling
supermarkets for sales, our research suggests sex shops are actually better-off than many.
Ignoring porn, physical adult retail is also being squeezed by online sales. It’s easy to argue it’s unfair
“It’s so grey as to what’s an acceptable percentage, and what constitutes a sex product. Lust does get checked by the local council, to see what our display areas are.”
Richardson also spoke about UK film production drying up, how the European market isn’t as affected because they can just sell US product without going through the BBFC process and how retail customers were being pushed online by a lack of new UK titles. He concluded: “It’s swings and roundabouts really. The Sex Entertainment Venue legislation has also introduced capped numbers, which may stop new shops opening. In Brighton we have lap dance places being charged £4,000 a year for a licence when I’m paying almost three times that. In eight years of trading we’ve never needed the police - I bet the strip clubs have used some policing...Hardly fair, but this has always been a crazy business!”
SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF PRIMARK
You don’t need me to point out many High Street retailers are struggling. Game, HMV, Peacocks, Argos, Clinton’s... According to a Local Data Company report, February 2012 saw a peak in shop closures with 14.6% of town centre retail sites vacant, following poor sales over Christmas leading to a wave of businesses getting into difficulties. Bradford was named as the place most in trouble. It’s possible to buck the trend though,
Tim Richardson: “I felt that we were losing business to the likes of Ann Summers” 47
Erotic Trade Only June 2012
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