Sex Shop Window Displays

Miserable residents have launched a petition to protest against the window display at a Salisbury sex shop.

Amazing Fantasy, in Fisherton Street, has recently been refurbished and its new display has been branded as supposedly inappropriate and more obvious , by people living nearby.

Nelly Bull launched a petition that has been signed by about 40 people. She claims:

There are pictures of women in provocative poses displayed right at the eye level of a small child. There have also been slogans in the window, again at the eye level of children, which are not appropriate for them to read. I am truly appalled. We have a responsibility to protect our children.

I am not heading any vendetta against this shop. They have freedom to trade ...BUT... as a community we have the right to strive for better standards and decency in our streets.

Councillor Richard Clewer said:

Since the shop was refurbished it has become more noticeable and obvious. I am not sure what the position is with regards to enforcement action, but I will speak to the council's licensing department for guidance.

Jonathan Spencer, manager of Amazing Fantasy said:

There is nothing you would see in our window that you wouldn't see in the window of other high street shops. Why should we black out our windows which would make the shop seem seedy? That is not what we are about at all.

We have simply had a lick of paint and changed our stock, it is mostly lingerie. People who have been into the shop have been impressed with how it looks and trade has been up 63% since the refurbishment. We have reduced the amount of stock we need a licence to sell and everything is legal.

Commentors on the online newspaper piece seem in total disagreement to the claims of the protestors. Even Councillor Clewer seems to have backed off given the total lack of support for the protestors' claims.

Update: Token gesture

11th July 2013. See  article from  salisburyjournal.co.uk

The manager of a Salisbury sex shop has been told he will need to take down one of the adverts in his window display following complaints. Licensing staff from Wiltshire Council visited the shop this week and informed staff that one of the adverts would need to be removed or changed. A Wiltshire Council spokesman said:

We've now visited the business and advised the manager of concerns from the public and that one of the adverts on display will need to be altered or taken down. We will now aim to set up an arrangement where he can easily notify us when he wants to make changes to the shop and we can advise accordingly.

Meanwhile owner Jonathan Spencer says he has had strong support for the changes he has made and has started his own petition in support of the window display, which has been signed by 82 people, and he plans to present it to cllr Clewer next week.

Update: Supportive petition

18th July 2013. See  article from  salisburyjournal.co.uk

THE row over a window display at a Salisbury sex shop took a new turn this week when its owner handed in his own petition showing support for his business.

Jonathan Spencer, who runs Amazing Fantasy in Fisherton Street, has been collecting signatures from people coming into his store who say they support the changes he made to the frontage of his shop and the window display.

More than 80 people have signed the petition supporting his business and on Tuesday he handed it to ward councillor Richard Clewer, who had also received the residents' petition of 40 signatures.

In 2010 Braxton Reynolds opened Truro's first sex shop, Mrs Palm , on Little Castle Street. He has now been ordered to black out his window display or risk losing his licence.

Confusion ensued over the wording of the licence re window displays, but now Cornwall Council's licensing 'service' said it has clarified the position. According to the council, the window display with mannequins in lingerie is breaching standard conditions of the licence. The council is claiming that the window display is part of the interior and therefore must not be visible to passers by.

Reynolds said a blacked-out window would not only damage the look of the street but also harm his business. He said:

Rules are being enforced in such a way to the detriment of the street first and to the detriment of our trading viability.

This will be disastrous for trade and will affect the look of the street. Our lingerie is no worse than stock high street chains have on display in their windows.

Adam Hayes of Miller Commercial who manages many of the nearby buildings said:

If asked our view of what the effect would be on Little Castle Street to have a prominent and central shop essentially whitewashed or blacked out, I would say it would be detrimental to the street in terms of aesthetics and to adjoining businesses.

A spokesman for the Council said:

[Reynolds was] advised that Licensing Enforcement would arrange to meet him at the premises to conduct a licence check which would also enable the opportunity for discussion on the way forward and options available.

This is not as a result of any complaints from members of the public.

Nice 'n' Naughty were  successful in their bid for an open window display for their Wednesbury sex shop.

They applied over three months ago to Sandwell Council. They were invited to attend a special committee meeting after objections were received from local councillors for the Wednesbury area.

Nice 'n' Naughty has made headline news in the local paper: ‘ANGER OVER SEX SHOP WINDOW DISPLAY PLAN’, with comments from Councillor Elaine Costigan saying that Wednesbury was not the place for such a sexy display’ and ‘people don’t want to walk through the High Street and see women’s underwear on display.

The newspaper article resulted in the local radio station, interviewing people in the street outside the shop asking for their opinions on the morning of the hearing.

Richard Allmark and Trish Murray attended the meeting and presented their case to a 10 strong committee to convince them that there weren't going to be dancing dildos in the window. After a 40 minute hearing they were finally granted permission to have a display.

An hour after receiving the permission, Richard and store manager Lee Hickman organised a window display with a banner display stand and lingerie.

Looks good.

Shoppers could be greeted with displays of saucy underwear under a Wednesbury sex shop’s new plans.

Nice ’n’ Naughty currently has blacked out windows but boss Richard Allmark wants to decorate it with lingerie instead. The retail manager has applied to Sandwell Council for the changes to the Lower High Street shop which he hopes will draw in more customers.

He also wants to banish the image of the stereotypical sex shop of yesteryear. But the application, which has been submitted to the council’s licensing committee, has drawn inevitable nutter criticism.

Town councillor Elaine Costigan said the town was not the right place for such a sexy display and said she would be objecting to the proposal: What will all the older people say? This isn’t right at all, I’ll certainly be sending a letter of objection

People don’t want to walk through the High Street and see women’s underwear on display. Wednesbury is an old town, it’s a nice place to live and I genuinely think people would be annoyed if it got the go-ahead.

In a letter to the planning committee, Mr Allmark said: The windows are all very tasteful, have nothing displayed that is offensive and would make the store far more appealing. He added that the rest of the shop would be blocked off so passers-by would not be able to see inside.

The application will be heard at the meeting of the Licensing Committee on Tuesday 17th June.