Located on a hip downtown street near the landmark city-block-sized Powell’s City of Books, Spartacus Leathers’ retail store — simply named Spartacus — sells everything necessary for whatever rebellion its customers are seeking.
There’s body jewelry to accent that naughty navel piercing, Manic Panic hair dyes, leather wearable and the accoutrements necessary to turn one’s self into a Goth prince/princess, illicit nurse or slutty schoolgirl. Oh, and this is all in the all-ages area, before you hit the ocean of porno and sex toys.
“We started off as an all-adult/leather/BDSM shop around 1987 that also had video booths and stuff like that,” store manager Crystal McDowell told AVN, “but we just progressed into being a larger-scale retail store that carries our own BDSM gear, our own vibrator line that we created and a full array of every day fashion.”
Going all-ages with a sizeable chunk of the 4,000 square foot store enriched its customer base. It meant that the teens that were normally hitting the Hot Topic at the mall for their accessories now had another option. What’s more, Spartacus could collect both their cash, as well as the adults shopping for porno and paddles.
“We do manufacture the adult products so we have a real focus on those, but we want to reach everyone through what we carry,” McDowell said. “You’d be surprised how many parents come in with their teenagers and have their teenagers looking at the lacy gloves and the devil rubber duckies while they are running to discreetly grab their condoms and vibrators. Our customers appreciate the eclectic stock we have, and I do as well. We carry clothing that you can wear if you're fifteen and it fits you. The clothing in our all-ages area is just, well, clothing. Portland is a progressive city, I guess. I‘ve never heard a parent complain about their teenager being in here.”
The adult section to the store — which requires one to show proof of age to enter — is always hopping, though. Silicone dildos from Tantus and Vixxen along with Spartacus’ own line of silicone vibes move briskly.
“We try to push skin-safe materials first,” McDowell said.
The store also does very well with Doc Johnson’s iVibes — as well as just about everything else from the Johnson line — but a priority is to make sure that all toys they sell are compatible with Spartacus’ own strap-on harnesses and other accessories. It’s part of an effort to enrich their namesake brand with their customer base.
“We carry a good balance of comparable product, and when you showcase the quality of the Spartacus product against that, that alone pushes and helps the brand,” McDowell said. “We have a lot of pride in our work and our products, and they are all handmade, so it’s easy to sell our stuff well.”
Spartacus has phased out almost all of their VHS, while their DVD sections showcase a decently rounded out selection of gay and straight titles.
“Channel One and anything directed by Chi Chi LaRue are our biggest movers on the gay side,” McDowell said. “On the straight side, it’s Wicked Pictures and Vivid,and it will always be that way for us. It’s because those two companies have such high-end actresses that put their names out there, and that makes a big difference.”
Top sellers include the GayVN Award-winning Channel One title Bolt along with Vivid’s Briana Loves Jenna and Jenna Loves Kobe.
“If it’s got Jenna Jameson in it, it’s something we have to have in stock,” McDowell stressed.
Spartacus does carry some gonzo/wall-to-wall titles, but doesn’t consider them to be a stocking focus.
“Those titles tend to be way more of a hit-and-miss with our clientele,” she said.
As for the future, while the company recently closed a suburban Clackamas, Oregon location, plans for another outlet in the ’burbs are in the works.
“We should again be moving into more than one store in the future,” McDowell said. “What we have is a great model, and we do a great job of delivering the products that we do.”
Spartacus’ retail store is located at 300 Southwest 12th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 97205 and can be reached by phone at 503.224.2604. The company’s corporate headquarters is located at 4287 Southeast International Way Suite D, Milwaukie, Oregon 97222 and can be reached by phone at 971.925.1350, by fax at 971.925.1351 or through the company’s Website, spartacusleathers.com.
