Category: Sex Toys

German adult mega-retailer Beate Uhse is apparently not doing so well. According to this report, it’s about to close all of it’s adult shops aimed at women, and two-thirds of it’s mainstream stores did not perform well in 2006.

The company will close the last of its Mae B. shops as their leases run out. The Beate Uhse offshoot, geared towards the female market and featuring brightly lit stores with sexy lingerie and erotica instead of hardcore pornography, was opened in 2004. The idea was to pull the company out of its porn niche and reach a broader spectrum of customers.

Despite the tasteful decor, massage oils, erotic games and silver and gold vibrators, the concept, which Beate Uhse spokeswoman Assia Tschernookoff now calls an “experiment,” didn’t fly.

Now the company is trying a new approach, and recently opened a flagship store in Munich that will carry many of the items featured at Mae B. in addition to the inventory found in the more traditional Beate Uhse stores.

Interesting that Beate Uhse’s idea of offering porn for women was the extreme “softly softly” approach. This seems to back up the idea that women like hardcore too. Of course, that’s no reason not to have the bright lighting and lingerie as well.

I don’t think this is evidence of porn for women being a dud market. I would say they simply took the wrong approach. And also that the Mae B. stores were a casualty of the digital age. I’m sure the ease and availability of porn on the internet is having an effect on many brick-and-mortar adult businesses.

Here’s the official Mae B site. The first page says that the business idea “was born from the results of an extensive psychological study to scientifically prove what women think about sex and what their expectations of an erotic shop are.”

Here’s a 2004 article from when the first Mae B sex shop opened. Under the heading “smut-free environment” we discover that all the good stuff llike vibrators and latex were at the back of the shop so that “a visitor can decide for herself how deep into the erotic experience she wants to go.” The stores did not offer any adult DVDs or magazines.

What a shame.

“Women want their erotic experience to be more indirect, more playful than men do,” said Monika Wilg, a lawyer for the Beate Uhse company.

Hmmm.

Beate Uhse is listed on the German stockmarket and thus is one of the few adult enterprises to appear on the business pages of mainstream media.

It’s not often that a sex toy catches my attention, but I keep seeing The Cone everywhere and now I’m intrigued. It doesn’t look anything like a vibrator – or any other sex toy – which means it’s one of the more innovative products to hit the adult toy stores in a while.

And now it’s got a tinge of royalty about it. This week saw the tabloids breathlessly reporting that Prince William’s girlfriend, Kate Middleton, recently purchased the Cone from an Ann Summers sex shop. So much for that whole “virgin at marriage” thing.

Just from seeing the pictures of it (and the eight suggested positions), I was feeling a bit iffy about the idea. I mean, it looks so very pointy. Not something you want to lower yourself onto quickly, especially from the lotus position.

Nonetheless, it seems to be a winner. Freddy and Eddy have given it a very glowing review:

The thing is bright pink, squishy to the touch, and the picture of simplicity. Heavy at its base, it can sit still on just about any surface and can be held against a wall for added fun… Once we got it home, the fun REALLY began and we can honestly say we’ve never had such a great session of laughs mixed with pleasure in five years of running our website… It’s not often the product equals the hype, but The Cone delivers on its promise for fun, pleasure, and innovation.

Good to know that it’s squishy and good for a laugh.

Regina Lynn reviewed it for her Wired Sex Blog in October, and she wasn’t quite so thrilled:

I like it. It’s certainly cute, with potential as a conversation piece… It doesn’t look like an insertion device, as it’s not phallic, even though that was the most invigorating position for me. It’s hands-free (great for cybersex), easy to use while reading and weighs enough to stay where you put it without being too heavy to play with… On the other hand, it’s a vibrator. It vibrates. For its $130 price tag, you could buy yourself a Hitachi Magic Wand and have enough left over for three Fukuoku finger vibrators for your best friends.

Hmm, good point.

Babeland is currently selling the Cone for US$130.

Australian adult store Femplay has it for A$149