sex shop

Sex shops on Boulevard de Clichy, Paris, France A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products. An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in Paris in the 1920s by Léon Vidal, the founder of the lingerie manufacturing company Diana Slip. His shops sold erotic books and photographs as well as lingerie.

Beate Uhse AG opened a sex shop in 1962 in Flensburg, West Germany, and it has been described as the world's first "official" sex shop. Sex shops can now be found in many countries and online. Sex shops are part of the sex industry. In most jurisdictions, sex shops are regulated by law, with access not legally permitted to minors, the age depending on local law. Some jurisdictions prohibit sex shops and the merchandise they sell. In other jurisdictions, sex shops are tolerated provided that they do not have window displays in view of the general public; the windows are usually blacked out or covered on the inside by venetian blinds. In some jurisdictions that permit it, they may also show pornographic movies in private video booths, or have private striptease or peep shows. An adult movie theater may be attached. There are also many online sex shops selling a variety of adult content such as sex toys, pornographic magazines, pornographic films and fetish wear etc.