When a small local business survives for nearly 30 years, it’s notable. When it’s a gay-owned business, it should be recognized as a milestone.
That business is Adult Depot on 58th Avenue, in the Southwest, which, as of this October, will have been in business for 29 years. You may remember it as “After Dark” when it was on 1st Street SW in the downtown, or under its original name – “Numbers Erotic Boutique” (originally on 11 Avenue and 3rd Street SW, then on Stephen Avenue Walk).
Adult Depot owner Jerry Daiter sat down with GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine for about an hour to discuss his business as it played out in Calgary’s Gay history, and shared his thoughts on the future of Adult shops.
Numbers Erotic boutique opened in October 1979 with a $2000 investment from Jerry. It’s hard to conceive of that meager amount in our current economic times, but $1000 paid for first month’s rent and deposit, with the rest going to store fixtures and basic stock. They catered to all types and persuasions, but the focus was (and still is) the gay market. At the time, Calgary had TWO adult stores. Numbers wasn’t anything fancy - just a basic store. If you wanted fancy, you’d visit the competition “The Love Boutique” (located in the old Grain Exchange building in the spot currently occupied by Gypsy bistro). Jerry described it as “absolutely gorgeous…like an Arabian sheik’s tent…very neat. And their sales clerks were not clerks, they were consultants.” Checking out the competition one day, he was told by the “consultant” exactly what he need within a few minutes of stepping in the store. Needless to say, such class came at a price, and the Love Boutique went bankrupt. Meanwhile, Numbers succeeded and moved downtown onto Stephen Avenue Mall (in the location currently occupied by Belvedere restaurant).
The reason for Numbers’ success was because Jerry’s customer service philosophy was a lot more basic than the Love Boutique’s: never assume anything about anybody, let the people decide. Even so, he has had his share of eyebrow-raising moments. For instance, one time a straight couple came in and purchased a dildo. The husband hesitated and asked the wife “are you sure this is what you want?” to which the wife replied “well, it’s up to you, it’s going up your ass”.
The 1980s brought changes, but Numbers remained committed to supporting the gay market. Back in 1979-80 they carried more gay magazines than anyone in the city. Then, as soon as video cassette movies came out, Jerry went out of his way to find gay titles. At the time, this was difficult due to the limited supply.
The other alteration was a move to 1st Street SW and a name change to After Dark. The name change was made because Jerry saw the opportunity to open up a peep show, and didn’t want the city to get advance knowledge of it.
In nearly 30 years, this was the only issue over which Jerry and Numbers/After Dark/Adult Depot had to fight the city. After Dark’s peep show experiment motivated the puritanical elements in the city administration to change the bylaws, such that the shows weren’t allowed in their current location. Jerry tried again in their present location on 58th Avenue under a different name: Adult Depot. Despite meeting all requirements, this final time the city stepped in and changed the bylaws such that peep shows were effectively banned. Ironically (and unofficially), some police officers preferred having the peep shows running, because it reduced cruising in the parks and put this activity out of the public eye. The end result was that Calgarians can sleep safe, secure in the knowledge that unlike most other major Canadian cities, ours is free from the terrible scourge threatening men…peep shows.
The 58th Avenue location has remained Adult Depot’s home, but the 1990s and beyond have seen further evolutions for retailers of Adult entertainment. Canada Customs became less restrictive on what pornographic material they allowed across the border, which benefited Adult Depot because most movies they carry are imported from the States.
However, the biggest change for better and for worse, was the Internet. For items other than movies, the internet allowed Adult Depot to source product direct from the manufacturer at a better price. In addition, the internet has speeded up the distribution cycle of movies. Jerry explained, “if a studio makes a movie, they want to milk it on their own site, then sell it to their distributors in the USA, then in Canada. We cycle through movies faster than before. A new movie we used to get could have been 6-8 months old. Now as soon as it goes into distribution in the USA, we have access to it [possibly in half that time].”
On the down side, Jerry sees movie studios embracing the internet as a low cost distribution channel directly to customers. “It’s cheaper for them…because with a master copy the world can watch; they don’t have to process, they don’t have to package, they don’t have to pay the middle man.”
His view on the future of the internet, adult content, and how it will impact Adult stores is not rosy. “You can rent movies on TV; you can download from the web. They’re still very expensive, but they will get cheaper. The adult stores we have now won’t exist in 10 to 15 years. It’ll be clothing stores. I’ve been saying this for some time - I said maybe 20, 25 years, but the way the internet is going and prices are dropping, I’d [now] say in about 10 years.”
Yet Adult Depot has changed with the market. The interesting thing I found about the business was in the way it looks and feels, very similar to a mainstream video rental store. Granted that the movie posters on the wall advertise titles like “Bareback Mountain” and “The Twin Dicks of Hazard”, but like a mainstream store, Adult Depot has different sections – their focus still remains the gay market, but they also rent/sell straight, transsexual, and bisexual titles, and have subcategories within those groups. Another parallel: they have specials for less recent movies running at a similar price (e.g. 4 for $25). The latest blockbuster will sell around $60-70, similar to the prices of regular Hollywood movies…except here we get to see exactly what went down between those cowboys.
Putting aside any bias you may have about the products, the secret of Adult Depot’s success and longevity is Jerry’s philosophy: he runs a straightforward store, he’s helpful to the customer without making assumptions, and he doesn’t disparage the competition whatsoever. “Play up what you’ve got, and don’t play down what the competition has,” Jerry said. This philosophy, and the loyalty of his employees (one for the whole 29 years) are impressive.
Said Jerry proudly, “A milestone.”
Adult Depot
140 – 58th Avenue SW
(403) 258-2777
