Area store’s adult devices stir debate

City officials were surprised to learn this week that a new business on South College Street was selling much more than women’s clothing.

Huntsville attorney Amy Herring said Kalli’s Love Stuff opened Friday in the Tiger Crossing shopping center under a general retail business license, for a business that primarily sells women’s clothing.

According to city records, a business license was issued Sept. 16 for a women’s clothing store, doing business as “Kalli’s,” at 1639 So. College St. The issue isn’t Kalli’s selection of lingerie, costumes, hosiery, shoes and boots in the store’s main showroom. It’s the business’ assortment of sex toys, including vibrators, that are located in a restricted area of the store.

“It is certainly concerning. That’s definitely bothersome,” said Auburn Mayor Bill Ham.

There is no signage on the brick facade of the shopping center indicating the name or type of business. But two neon “open” signs lit in the tinted front windows show that the store is now ready for business. It is situated next to World Gym in the shopping center.

“I think they were misleading if they applied for a business license as a women’s clothing store,” said Ward 7 council member Gene Dulaney. “We don’t need that kind of business in Auburn. I wouldn’t vote for a conditional use for this type of business anywhere in Auburn.”

Ham didn’t know about Kalli’s because the council does not approve business licenses. Since the business appeared to not have needed a zoning change, it was never a matter of debate for the city planning commission nor city council.

City manager Charlie Duggan said Wednesday they plan to investigate the business to make sure it is operating as a women’s clothing store and as permitted for the zoning of that space.

As general counsel for Love Stuff, it’s Herring’s job to make sure the chain of stores are following the law. They have other locations in Montgomery, Hoover and Oxford. She has been representing the chain for the past seven years. She has been in a legal battle with the city of Hoover since 2005. Just last month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled against the chain, 7-2, citing that the business failed to show that a long-standing state law banning the sale of sexual aides was unconstitutional.

Herring said all the Love Stuff stores are similar, but carry more or less of certain products based on the community. Because of Auburn’s conservative nature, she said several items were placed in the backroom of the store.

She wouldn’t use the word vibrator or massager, but referred to them as “devices.” They are available at Kalli’s, but only to those who show a valid ID, proving they are 18 or older, and read the store’s policy. That policy says that items that are considered obscene by the law can be purchased for “a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial, or law enforcement purpose” only, according to Alabama Code Section 13A-12-200.4.

Those customers are then permitted to pass through a heavy curtain to the restricted area.
“It’s massage, metal and leather, if you get my drift,” Herring said. “These are items not to be worn outside of the home, but rather in the privacy of your own home.”

Many of the devices are phallic-shaped of various sizes, shapes and colors. Herring won’t use the word pornography either, but DVDs and magazines intended for an adult audience are available for purchase in the restricted section. Several of today’s popular adult entertainment stars are listed as “friends” on the store’s MySpace Web site.

Among the novelties in the southside is a penis-shaped cocktail shaker and a “Cute Love Apple” vibrator. A six-inch seamless massager is available for purchase from both sides of the curtain.

Herring said the store front to this side of the business was painted black, an 8-foot wall was installed and heavy curtains hung in an attempt to follow the law prohibiting the display or sale of “marital aids” to minors. Herring, however, admitted the store’s inventory is “adult material.”

There is no doctor on site, but Herring said a doctor she used in the Hoover case said everything in the store promotes “healthy sexual function.”
“We sell video, media and books, all protected by the First Amendment,” Herring said. “We don’t consider our stores to be porn stores or adult stores.”