Brian Robinson of The Pleasure Chest: Why Normalizing Intimacy and Eliminating Shame Transforms Modern Retail

As part of our series about the future of retail, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brian Robinson, owner of The Pleasure Chest.

An enterprising spirit, keen business sense and advocacy for personal development sent Brian Robinson down an unexpected but pivotal path that eventually led him to owning and operating all four locations of famed adult boutique The Pleasure Chest. He’s now one of the most well-known entrepreneurial figures in the adult retail industry and has concurrently evolved into a speaker and advocate for sexual wellness and education.

Robinson, the son of a minister, grew up in the western and midwest US. Ambitious but unsure what path his career would take, he eventually attended Walla Walla College and the University of California, Los Angeles studying chemistry before moving to Seattle to work behind the scenes on the production crew at CBS television show “Northern Exposure.” After five seasons, he had no idea he would soon transition from working on the silver screen to a different kind of entertainment industry.

Soon after the television series ended, Robinson moved to New York City in pursuit of acting and theater. He worked in nightclubs, went on auditions but also nurtured this recurring thought: take over his deceased uncle’s business, The Pleasure Chest, whose ownership had been in probate for a decade. After a lot of family arbitration — Robinson signed on the dotted line in 1996, secured initial seed money from his grandparents and learned the business from the ground up — all before age 30.

Robinson took the original vision and mission of the erotic (and beloved) boutique in the West Village one step further. With an engaging and knowledgeable approach, he became dedicated to his mission to help “Pleasure seekers” on their journey of discovery by creating a welcoming store environment that made guests of any sexual orientation feel comfortable. He wanted to lighten the mood and make a visit to the store inviting, approachable — even sophisticated — and created a more diversified selection of books, toys, enhancers, stimulants and inclusive, gender-affirming products, all of which he eventually sold online on the store’s website as well. He updated the store model for a modern and more sexually open society, encouraging curious guests to feel empowered, uninhibited and without shame when visiting his upscale stores. Robinson’s ideas were a game changer and business boomed. The brand’s renowned celebrity following and appearance in “Sex and the City”’s famous episode about the Rabbit vibrator certainly didn’t hurt, either.

The Pleasure Chest’s escalation to a famous, top-tier adult store put Robinson front and center in the industry, and he honed his persona as a sexpert. Robinson took his sexual advocacy a step further in 2008 with the introduction of his PleasurEd educational workshops at The Pleasure Chest — free for anyone in the community — with the purpose of educating shoppers and fans of the brand alike on various sex-positive lifestyles, intimacy and guidebooks to erotic play. He has now held more than 1,500 classes to more than 30,000 people, in addition to training 60 additional educators.

Another core focus for his sex workshops are the LGBTQ and alternative lifestyle communities. Robinson has been a constant champion of gender inclusivity overall and also in the adult novelty store space, putting measures into place long before most, such as staff sensitivity and informational training, inclusive and gender-neutral language, vendor partnerships, marketing, allyship and more. All together, these all align with his mission of normalizing healthy, explorative sex without judgement, shame and discrimination.

The success of the original West Village location, as well as Los Angeles and Chicago — which were all opened in the ’70s by his uncle — led him to open a second New York City location on the Upper East Side in 2013.

After many years in the industry, Robinson wanted to combine the safe space and exploration his adult stores provided with another subject that has been breaking societal stigmas: cannabis. Near his store location in California — where marijuana is legal — he has been officially approved for his future cannabis consumption lounge and medical dispensary, Pleasure Med.

Via his erotic boutiques and endeavors, Robinson’s sole mission is to keep breaking down barriers and be a champion for all when it comes to sexual health, personal wellness, self discovery, and of course, pleasure. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, skiing, snowboarding, yoga, cooking with friends and attending the Burning Man festival.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I am very happy to be joining your series, thank you. The overarching drive is the respect that I had for my uncle, Duane Colglazier, who founded Pleasure Chest 50 years ago in 1971. Duane had this amazing zest for life, he was an adventurer in the truest sense of the word. He did see the world but also an adventurer closer to home where he was curious in meeting almost everyone he came in contact with. Of course, when we were kids we weren’t told exactly what he did for work until we were older, but during family holidays, of all the family he was the most fun with us kids, rough housing, giving us the best presents and respected us as people even though we were little kids. As I got older and found out what Duane had created, with a huge legacy and even bigger reputation, I looked in to his passion for helping people on their wellness journey and learned one of the biggest ways to do so is through relationship communication and sexual fulfillment. Having seen the impeccable work that he did and the powerful impact he was leaving on the community, I was hooked and wanted to be a part of it.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

My career significantly changed when I had the opportunity to reacquire the Pleasure Chest’s Los Angeles store for the company to have a national presence again. After my uncle’s passing in 1988, his siblings who were the beneficiaries of his estate sold off the Los Angeles store to an independent owner. The LA Pleasure Chest location had the most glitz and was constantly being shopped by celebrities or being mentioned by famous people in the press. The LA store was being sold in bankruptcy court due to a messy divorce between the independent owner and his ex-wife. Meeting a court mandated closing deadline, which was a matter of a few weeks, was a heavy lift, but having a coordinated national presence by having stores in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles was well worth the extreme hoops that to be resolved. It was a proud moment for me.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaway you learned from that?

Walking in on day one after I closed the deal on the Pleasure Chest stores in 1996, the managers and business managers had left fearing mistakes would be discovered since there had been a lack of oversight the 10 years prior. I hadn’t run retail before and there was no operating manual on how to do it. There was no information passed over on where the bank accounts were and there was no POS system or even ordering book for vendors. Keep in mind, this was five days before Christmas, the busiest time of the year. I went through dozens of filing cabinet drawers and hundreds of invoices almost overnight so that we could place orders for inventory and change over the bank accounts. One deposit account in Chicago I still hadn’t found until 8 weeks later. I learned very quickly that organization and perseverance were going to be my best friends and sleep wasn’t. And building a team, even on a small scale, help get the work done and help the staff transition to changes they found exciting. Accomplishing small immediate goals was making me feel I was getting further down the path to stability and ultimately success.

Are you working on any new exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

I have this very exciting project that I’m doing in LA in the cannabis arena, called Pleasure Med. It is a cannabis retail dispensary, a consumption lounge, and for good measure we have added an outdoor patio restaurant that will have a full liquor license. Pleasure Med is located just next to the Los Angeles Pleasure Chest store, in fact, it will be sharing the same parking lot. We are really branding it as an all-inclusive pleasure campus. I’m wanting the experience to feel like the adventurer has walked over the threshold to this world of pleasure, sensation, and inspiration. I think we are the first to connect cannabis and sexual exploration in this kind of setting. Many of us were introduced to both cannabis and our sexuality during the same periods of our youth. Having the opportunity to have a great resource and guidance now in both the sexual world and the cannabis world with expert advisors will have a powerful impact on how people might explore either world with the enhancement of the other. I couldn’t be more excited! We will also be doing a 35-foot-tall 3D projection of an art installation on the wall each night after sunset until we close. We’re doing this to set the mood and evoke inspiration. It’s really such an exciting time!

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

What works for me is promising myself that I will agree to have the stamina to face whatever challenges there are right at the outset. This way when the larger challenges that do come up and feel like they could derail my work, I’ve already made that deal with myself that I will handle what is thrown my way. The second thing that I’ve found very helpful is that regardless of what the conflict or difficulty is, I will stop and take a moment to just observe what is happening or about to happen. There is always an opportunity to learn, grow, streamline, and become more aware, no matter what is about to unfold. I find this keeps me more positive and have less panicky feelings when I know even though situation is unplanned, I can assimilate it in to something that is beneficial. It definitely takes trust, and reliance that things will work out. Even if at the time I don’t know what the benefit is, I will make the right decisions and the growth will make itself known at a future time. All of this of course is centered on balance, on yoga and meditation, on exercise and rewarding adventures and experiences with family and friends.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful, who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

The first two people to believe in me and push me to do something out of my comfort area were my grandparents, both of which gave incredible support in very different ways. My grandfather saw that I was limiting my ideas when I first dreamed up a plan to resolve the existing stores out of my uncle’s estate probate after almost a decade. My grandmother pushed me to do things that made me happy. She said that if selling newspapers on the street corner is happiness for me that it’s not up to her or myself or anyone else to judge the role one chooses.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

We are currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Pleasure Chest and rather than do a massive over-the-top event, I wanted to commemorate this huge milestone for us in the most impactful way possible, so we are running a promotion to donate 15% of the total sales of vibrators, across our five store-front locations, and thriving retail store, from Sept. 15 — Sept. 30, to Gay For Good, a non-profit LGTBQ organization that promotes diversity and volunteerism, for important community initiatives including hunger, homelessness, theatre, education, animals, and more. Gay For Good has subchapters in the cities where we have storefronts, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, so we can make a huge difference right in our community. We’ve committed to the minimum donation being at least $25,000 and are excited to partner with this incredible charity that supports our same core values.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main questions of our interview. The Pandemic has changed many aspects of all of our lives. One of them is the fact that so many of us have gotten used to shopping almost exclusively online. Can you share a few examples of different ideas that large retail outlets are implementing to adapt to the new realities created by the Pandemic?

One of the best ways to keep customers coming to the front door has been the ease and convenience of curbside pickup. It still gets the customer the immediate access to what they need while still using the local resource. Even if they don’t feel comfortable with the safety level of entering the store, by having our customers still come to the front door it won’t be long until they have that security. For us most people love to come in and browse and get inspired by what’s new or something they hadn’t seen the last time. It’s still helpful for customers who need their regular supply but the enticement of seeing the world within is always there.

In your opinion, will retail stores or malls continue to exist? How would you articulate the role of physical retail spaces at a time when online commerce platforms like Amazon Prime or Instacart can deliver the same day or the next day?

Malls and retails stores very much will continue to exist and thrive. With, retailers are having to adapt to what the demand is. Humans are a very social species looking for adventures and experiences which is why we see such a draw to social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. No one is posting pictures of themselves shopping online, it’s always postings of where they have been and who they have been with. People also love the excitement and the trend of posting videos online of their shopping ‘mall haul’. The way for all of us retailers to survive is to give people more of a life excursion during their visit. Malls creating more outdoor spaces and delicious restaurants, with performance spaces, gyms and active centers are drawing people to the village like setting in huge numbers. There’s a mall close to me in Los Angeles called The Grove that has done a perfect job in curating these adventures that it is next to impossible to get in the whole area during the weekend.

In our own small way we are doing the same thing with our new project, the cannabis business called Pleasure Med, which shares a parking lot with our Los Angeles Pleasure Chest location. We’ll soon be offering not only the sex toy retail but the cannabis retail as well. There will be a full-service cannabis lounge as well as an outdoor patio restaurant that has a full bar. Bringing all of these fun, key elements together in an innovative lifestyle-centric way combines shopping and socializing, an experience you can’t get while ordering online. Also, we will be doing two community events each year, one is more entertainment focused with live music and the other is more of an educational health and wellness fair (in our sexuality and cannabis world). People are tired of being at home and want fun places to be. This is a great and exciting time for us!

The so-called “Retail Apocalypse” has been going on for about a decade. While many retailers are struggling, some retailers, like Lululemon, Kroger, and Costco are quite profitable. Can you share a few lessons that other retailers can learn from the success of profitable retailers?

The biggest lesson I’ve seen from companies that really thrive is having a strong brand identity. People have to know what the company is all about and what their experience will be. If they hear about this from their friends natural curiosity takes over and a person just has to experience it for themselves. I find that encouraging the curiosity by offering the unexpected event, or have some kind of pleasantly surprised element to the customers experience goes a long way in turning that customer in to a friendly fan of the brand. Many times in both Los Angeles and New York I have met people that say that our Pleasure Chest stores are on their personal tour of half a dozen places to take out of town friends when they are showing their guests the cities. People just don’t expect us to break their preconceived notions of what a sex shop is and we love doing so!

Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise to retail companies and e-commerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?

Huge companies cannot offer a specialized experience or even a curated selection of products. Those companies are running on algorithms of what sells the fastest and at the cheapest price. But then everything becomes a bland color or a one note song, diversity is lacking and ultimately excitement. I personally believe that people want to be touched in some way, recognized, respected and be in the community. Yes there will always be the convenience of the direct delivery companies. Not everything can be about convenience or lowest cost. Sometimes we need the wandering throughout the day, the unexpected find that we can take home and improve the way we connect, be it a lover or a friend.

Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to create a fantastic retail experience that keeps bringing customers back for more? Please share a story or an example for each.

It truly starts with a friendly and engaging staff! If customers walk in and there is a sense that they are in a familial setting and completely welcomed to be there, they will be happy to stay and look around. One of the best stories that I’ve heard was when a younger man was on the phone with his mother but he was shopping the aisles with his dad. I heard him say “mom, dad wants to know if you need anything”. I walked into the back room where others were working and shared that most unexpected comment I had ever heard on our sales floor. When people feel that welcome and open, you know you’ve got a hit.

I think the next factor is there must be an energetic atmosphere which means great lively music, beautiful showrooms and enough customers in the store that make people feel like there is a shared experience even if the others are just strangers. Sometimes the stores get a little too lively over the weekend and while we encourage guests to turn on our vibrator testers (prior to the pandemic), we’ve had to take away the paddles and spankers from more than a few rambunctious people.

Education is key. Whether it’s, teaching the visitor about materials, about uses of products, about ideas to explore, people want to learn more and feel comfortable about the direction they are choosing. Pre-covid we had weekly free workshops in each of the cities that are stores are located in. Not only does this create a village feel and that guests are a part of something for an interesting evening, people really want to know about the topics we teach. Whether it’s a skills based class, a communication class, or simply how-to classes, there something to learn for everyone. I set through one of our advanced classes and I even blushed after all these years on a couple of sections in the course. Education also builds trust, credibility and prepares for a life-long customer.

People love special events. As we get closer to resolving the health crises, everyone wants to get back out and be with others in social settings, especially with peers or like minded people. Finding the core theme that captivates a community’s attention, and people want to attend is not as easy. We had several of our anniversary parties in September prior to the shut down, and would get 2,200 people throughout the night. And everyone dressed up in glorious costumes without it even being a costume party. We had hired several performers from Lucent Dossier and even with as fancy as their characters were they were still lost in the kink, club, fetish and drag crowd. Amazing!

Finally community engagement, if you have built a reputation and trust with your customers, eventually they want you to get involved. We do fundraisers in the stores for different causes and donate countless gift bags to charity events or organizations. When a person who likes their connection with the brand sees it pop up in unexpected places they feel a bond and it reminds them that they need lube. Philanthropy is also a huge part of our core values!

Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. Here is our final ‘meaty’ question. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would love to start a “Walk the Walk” movement, which normalizes each of us spending a portion of our days in the year walking in the shoes of people that society tends to overlook. Maybe for one day we live as a person without a home, as an immigrant, as a person with a different orientation. Maybe we live just one day as a person with a different gender, or different race or different body type, even if for logistical reasons that just means holding it in our minds for the day what it might mean to be that person. Not that any of this gets us to truly experience the ins and outs of another person’s life is but it would bring us awareness of how we think, when we judge and when we lack empathy. I read a story of this middle class family living for two months in the townships in South Africa on comparable amounts per day as the local families. The story transformed their lives and understanding of their own inherent judgments on people they had no right to judge. Anything that causes us to understand the people around us and ultimately have strengthen our compassion is immeasurably powerful. This movement would result in people being less judgmental, kinder and more understanding.

How can our readers further follow your work?

Come hang with us on Instagram @PleasureChestStores at The Pleasure Chest NY, LA or Chicago and visit us at www.thepleasurechest.com. See you soon!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!