At his suggestion, my love-monkey and I went to a sex store to commemorate Valentines Day this year. Now this wasn’t your everyday porn shop in a bombed out building on the corner sex store; it was Good Vibrations…

If you have even the slightest interest in sex, you’ll probably want to check it out for yourself! If you have one in your area I’d urge you to go in person, but in any case you’ll want to check out the website, where you’ll see that GV operates under an entirely different premise than the afore mentioned neighborhood sleaze shop.

Walking in the front door of the Berkeley storefront, any self-consciousness I was trying hard not to show was quickly eased by the soft but clear lighting and open shop layout, discrete but plentiful staff (all pleasant, matter-of-fact & genuinely helpful women), creative sales displays (probably especially creative, given the day), and the clientele, who were reasonably clean and decently clad folks, some young and some old, including at least one other middle aged couple who were animatedly comparing the merits of several equally gigantic latex penis substitutes.

As you might have surmised by my description, Good Vibrations is more phenomenon than commerce – a space dedicated to the idea that sex is good; healthy, natural, and a whole lot of fun.

This experience really increased my awareness of how important the atmosphere we cultivate around our products and services is. Customer perception is informed by appearances, but perhaps even more by attitude, and Good Vibrations rates high on both counts. Their interactive e-commerce site is particularly impressive, boasting a weekly magazine, FOUR informative and entertaining blogs, a beautiful photographic gallery, a TV station, extensive event, workshop & party listings, as well as an impressive variety of guides for realizing various sexual predilections and staff who are all extensively trained and prepared to answer even the most arcane questions…  Who could ask for more?