It’s a special occasion for you and your partner. All you know is it’s a surprise, but you have no idea what is in store for you. A limousine picks you up and takes you for a romantic dinner, and then whisks you downtown to the Hotel Arts. You are taken to a room with a Jacuzzi tub, bubble bath, and silk rose petals spread out on the bed and massage lotions waiting to be used.
You look at your partner in admiration for all the effort he or she put into making your night special. However, they had a bit of help. Everything was arranged through Calgary’s Leather and Lace, the high-class adult store that has been operating in Calgary since February 1st of this year.
“It’s what we call the ‘Romantic Concierge’ package and we are the first in Calgary to offer it,” store manager Jessica Lee recently told GayCalgary.com. “People call us to set up a romantic evening with their partner and we take care of it all for them. If they want something picked out from the store we can have it set up in the hotel room for when they get there. It is something that is different, and we have been getting really good reactions to it. It is absolutely something that same-sex clients can take advantage of - if you want a special night we can help you out. We are enjoying doing that and it really is a relief for a lot of people not to have to worry about the details.”
Leather and Lace is more than just a date service however. Their location on 32nd Avenue NE features an assortment of toys, lingerie and gifts. What makes them stand out is the comfortable shopping environment. Roman columns and soft colors greet clients as they walk in the door, and the space itself is quite beautiful. They offer a variety of products such as lingerie (even including plus sized garments), toys, kits, games, and gag gifts that range from mild to wild. For Lee, it’s all do to the hard work of her mother Coralea, who designed the space with customers’ comfort in mind.
”It was my Mom’s dream, she always wanted to do something like this, and she wanted it to be classy. She designed the interior, wanted it to be just beautiful. She is a very adventurous person herself and she wanted it to be somewhere she would feel comfortable in, somewhere that a person who had never been in a store like this would feel relaxed and not try and hide the fact that they were here. The whole idea was to offer something for everybody. Women absolutely love it here because women get really shy about sex. Men and Women both find being here…comfortable and welcoming.”
That philosophy also involves hiring open, knowledgeable and welcoming staff.
”All of the staff is very warm and easy to talk to. We find a lot of our customers find it easy to open up and tell us what they are looking for. It is an important quality. We try really hard to make our customers feel very welcome. With every purchase we give out condoms and lube because we are really trying to promote safe sex. We get on a very personal level with our customers; most of us have our own clients that come in specifically to see us.”
While things are going extremely well for Leather and Lace now, it wasn’t easy to get started at the conception of their business.
”Coralea had a really hard time finding space. Once landlords found out what kind of store we were, they didn’t want to rent to us. We had a really hard time finding this location.” Once they found their home, it was a very quick turnaround. “We got possession of this store, completely renovated it and had it opened in 21 days. It was a lot of work and a few all-nighters. It was quite a process as well in finding our distributors and such in a very short time period. We were hoping to open up last fall but because we couldn’t find the space we were unable to. Once we got in here and the landlords saw the kind of store we were, they absolutely loved it.”
Don’t want to go out? Invite a few dozen friends and Leather and Lace to your home for a house party. It’s a fun way to get your friends together with free and discrete delivery, previews of new products and services, ideas to spice up the romance in your life and the chance to try before you buy.
“We are offering home parties to anyone, gay or straight, single, couples, you can set it up however you would like. We are hoping to pick up a little more with that..”
Lee made it clear that Leather and Lace is open to everyone and very welcoming to members of the gay community. You don’t have to feel awkward bringing your same sex partner into the store and shopping for whatever it is that tickles your, well, anything.
”We want the LGBT community to know we are here and not just for straight people. We carry different things and are very open and willing to bring products in. We are trying to get our name out there and let people know we aren’t just for straight clientele only. It is very important to us to get our name out to the gay community.”
Leather and Lace has big plans for the future with wide expansion of their classy adult stores throughout the country. A big advantage to that will be the chance to book your Romantic Concierge getaway out of town.
“We are working towards expanding to 30 stores across Canada. We are trying to be very competitive with our prices and as we grow it will be easier to go directly to the manufacturers and offer better prices. As well, we really want to boost this romantic concierge package and have it available wherever we have a store, so you can plan a night out anywhere in Canada.”
Leather and Lace
2020 32nd Avenue N.E.
Calgary, AB
Phone: (403) 291-4060
Fax: (403) 291-4063
www.leatherandlace.ca
