Ann Summers - Taking Sex Onto The High Street

Being a veteran Aston Villa supporter, Ruf has never been terribly enthusiastic about Ann Summers, since the owners used to be the finance behind their arch-enemies on the other side of town, Birmingham City, giving rise to all sorts of derogatory chants from the terraces at their derby games.

However, the footballing world moves on and, recently, David Gold became Chairman at West Ham United so, in Ruf’s eyes, Ann Summers are ok again.

I have always held a great fondness for them because my first ever vibrator came from one of their parties, attended by Little Sis back at the turn of the century, so I decided to do a little research.

The company was named after the female secretary (Annice Summers) of the male founder (Caborn Waterfield) and its four stores were acquired by David Gold and his brother in the 70s. But it was David’s daughter, Jacqueline, who took the company by the scruff of the neck and turned it from an upmarket sex shop into the female-dominated format that we know today. It was she who, inspired by the Tupperware parties of the time, took that idea and started the house party idea.

Groups of women were encouraged to talk about sex with a glass of wine in the comfort of their own homes and given the opportunity to buy vibrators and sexy lingerie at the same time. Knowing how raucous and risque some ladies can become after one glass of chardonnay, adding in some naughty toys would be like putting a match to a flame. The idea took off like a house on fire.

Within a few years, the sales force hosting these parties had risen to 7,500 women. It was decided that the time had come for Ann Summers to branch out into the High Street and the idea was to provide ‘an intimate and very girly boudoir‘.

In many locations, there was a lot of local opposition to the proposed siting of one of those ‘dirty shops’ in amongst the other acceptable outlets. But, over time, the Ann Summers shop has become a staple of many town shopping centres.

I can remember my first ever visit to my local store. I had always walked past it very quickly and smirked at the people looking surreptitiously at the lingerie-clad models in the window display before, furtively, darting inside. They all seemed to look, well, rather old actually.

But, when my Rabbit died a sad death by discombobulation, I needed to replace it. I couldn’t order online and risk having my purchase mistakenly opened by my Husband or one of the kids. So, I had to bite the bullet and run the gauntlet.

I can remember walking up and down the High Street on the other side of the road several times before I plucked up the courage to cross the street and stride purposefully inside. Well, that’s what I like to think I looked like. I suspect it was more of a quick scuttle through the door.

Inside I was greeted by a cornucopia or brightly coloured lingerie and, as I progressed deeper into the emporium, the rows and rows of different vibrators, dildos, rabbits, cock rings, lubes and various novelty outfits with a whole section on the back wall of whips and other implements into whose usage I really did not want to delve too deeply.

Selecting my Rabbit as quickly as possible, I paid with my credit card, wondering with mortification if it would show up as Ann Summers on the statement, and looked in horror at the brightly coloured bag that the assistant was holding out to me. I promptly produced a Sainsburys carrier bag, into which I placed the offending item so that my walk back to the car would not shout to the entire population of my home town that I had just been to a sex shop and purchased a vibrator.

These days, I go in there to buy lingerie without batting an eyelid. And, if I see something I haven’t tried, then I’ll go and check it out without a worry. The atmosphere in the shop is extremely relaxed. The assistants are quite happy to answer questions from personal experience and the idea is quite clearly to make it just like visiting any other store.

Thanks to Ann Summers, what used to be viewed as ‘kinky’ is becoming part of the mainstream shopping experience. We don’t have to go to one of those rather iffy shops with the blacked out windows that make you feel as if you’re some kind of pervert.

Vibrators are coming to be viewed as acceptable bedroom equipment and our daughters will be the beneficiaries of far better sex as a result.

And, like everyone else, Ann Summers has a presence on the internet.

So, if you click on the advert in the sidebar, you can go and have a look around their on-line site.