In the year 2004, the GLBT Community and the world at large are seen as much more accepting and understanding places. It’s a far cry from 1979, when Adult Depot owner Jerry Daiter opened his first adult store.

"We were the second Adult store that opened in Calgary. The first one was The Love Shop, which was a fancy high-priced gorgeous looking store. By comparison ours was a hole in the wall. We both carried the same products such as lotions and toys. There was no hardcore anything, magazines were softcore and movies were non-existent. It shocked people, we were a big city "dirty book store" but a cleaned up version," Daiter told GayCalgary.com

It can be difficult for any business to find a location, and for an Adult Store it was virtually impossible.

"It was tough, we looked at many spots and because it was an adult store we were turned down. I knew some property owners who I told what I had in mind and they found us a spot on 11th avenue west of 1st street, where we stayed for two and a half years until the building burnt down. They were our landlords for another 8 years on the 8th avenue mall. We lucked out because of whom we knew. We have bounced around with different locations without a lot of problems, but there still is a stigma about Adult Stores."

The original location was dubbed "Numbers Erotic Boutique," named after a popular gay magazine in the 70’s with the intention of being a gay adult store, but Daiter had concerns that the gay clientele might not be enough to support the venture at the time. Later, viewing booths were added and the store was changed to "After Dark," again after a gay publication. The booths were one of many fights with the City of Calgary.

"Booths are completely illegal now. We had tried a few locations. One ran for 5 years untouched while another on 1st street SW was constantly being dragged in and out of courts until it disappeared. The city changed all of their rules, which is why we ended up with the location on 58th and Blackfoot, because it matched each of the cities requirements. They changed the rules, we took them to court and kept winning and eventually the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city. There is no way anyone could open an operation like that in the city. Almost every major city in Canada has peep booths except for Calgary."

The current name, Adult Depot, was something that Daiter had to choose quickly.

"The present name came about when we opened our store on 58th, which was going to be a real showcase with viewing booths and everything until the City changed the rules and said no way. We were at City Hall filling out an application and they required a name. Home Depot was new at that point in time, so I just threw out the first thing that came to my mind."

Since day one Daiter’s stores have catered to the gay community. When gay films and magazines first came out, a lot of stores wouldn’t touch it. When VCR’s became popular in the mid 1980’s his business completely changed.

"This really sparked the hardcore industry. Magazines came out first and I was scared to carry them, even though they were legal in the early 80’s. The VHS tapes became available in 1986. One establishment was in court at that point in time because they were dubbing tapes, but that didn’t stop us, we carried original tapes. We have had no real problems as far as the law goes. The film industry changed everything, and we got very heavy into the visual aspect, excluding a lot of clothing items and other related things. We did this more than our competitors, many of who wouldn’t touch gay material. We started slowly because it was expensive and there wasn’t a lot out there. At first we had 50 titles and they were out every night. We went really heavy on that, right now we have great contacts with suppliers in the states and we import from there. As well we carry toys and lotions and other adult products. It is amusing some of the questions we get. I have had people ask about a dildo, ’Is this a straight dildo?’ It all depends on who is going to use it. Toys are toys and they don’t discriminate. Some are heterosexual but most of the lotions and toys are asexual. Even the manufacturers now have dual covers of both a woman and a man."

A great deal has changed over the years in what Adult Depot carries.

"We haven’t bought any new tapes in 2 years, we are strictly disc now. The Falcon family of studios, we pick up everything they have to offer and they are really popular. Others like All Worlds Studios did well. On disc there are a lot of very small companies, Falcon is releasing some new titles, not as many as they had and are slow on releasing old titles on disc. We are picking up a lot of classics from companies like Catalina. These new companies in California and in Europe are bringing out great product and very positive feedback with our customers. Those are some of the most popular types – the twink deals, and definitely the bareback sex. Combine the two, they are a sure winner. We have built up a big collection of these in the last 6 – 8 months since they have become available. We have a lot of people that specifically ask for bareback films, and we have our own ID labels to identify that."

Daiter hopes that his customers simply use these videos as fantasy and take the proper precautions in real life.

"I personally think the performers are stupid. I don’t know how much the performers are getting paid but nothing in my mind pays for the risk. But its all fantasy, there are no storylines. They all run disclaimers and I hope that people see it as a fantasy and take proper precautions in real life. I suppose this is one of the reasons why Catalina is now one of the largest studios, because they are bringing back early titles, because it wasn’t "barebacking" before HIV – it was a way of life. Our attitude since 1979 [has been] this: If it is available legally, then our customers should have access to it. If they aren’t interested we won’t carry much of it."

Adult Depot can also try to find specific performers or titles for their customers, with a few exceptions.

"We will try. We don’t get a lot of people who ask but the option is there. Our suppliers have a number of studios and we will certainly try and find things. We make no promises but if people have a specific taste in studio or type of film we will look into it. That being said, if it is illegal we don’t even want to know about it. If someone asks for something that it strictly prohibited (bestiality, pedophilia, incest and heavy bondage sex) we don’t want to discuss it. It’s illegal, and if you want it, go hunt for yourself, we don’t want any part of it. We have hung up on people who have called us about these items and have asked people to leave the store if they come in asking. In 25+ years we have never run amok of the law, which is saying something because there are a lot of little laws that have to be followed. For example you can have clothing displayed in windows but not sex toys, and if someone saw a toy in the window and complained you could lose your license. You have to play within the rules and we stress that. The companies [publish] 1000+ releases every month, and we pick and choose."

After 25 years, Daiter is contemplating his future, and that of his business. He may slowly phase himself out and let employees take over, but his business and his legacy continue on with the same degree of success they’ve had for a quarter of a century.

"We are going to be around. I personally am working less and less in the business, but my staff Mike and Miles will probably be taking over. They have been around for a long time and I don’t see them making any drastic changes. We are an adult store that is gay oriented, we don’t discriminate in any way, and if a legal product comes on the market and is available to us we will attempt to put it into stock. A lot of our long time customers are very happy, and the new ones that discover us are pleased. We’ve done well for ourselves."

Related Articles

Contributor Jason Clevett |

Locale Calgary |

Topic Adult Depot | History |