European Sex Shop Chain Goes Upscale

Beate Uhse, Europe's largest sex shop chain, is looking to expand its customer base by opening new upscale city boutiques designed to attract women and couples.

"The traditional sex shops will not survive as they are," Beate Uhse's director, Otto Christian Lindemann, told Reuters.

Lindemann said that the company's "flagship products" — including hardcore adult releases and special film screenings — are no longer turning a profit. Lindemann attributes some of these losses to the internet.

The company has lately encountered difficulty with bulk and mail order sales, and suffered further losses when a flood at its Netherlands distribution site destroyed most of its Christmas stock.

Lindemann told Reuters that the chain plans to replace hardcore material with colorful sex toys and risqué underwear, aimed at both men and women. According to the report, a new Munich boutique opened in January will test the concept.

"Eroticism is part of all our daily lives," Lindemann told Reuters. "With this shop, we are reaching out to new customers, who go there to browse after doing their Saturday shopping."

"We cannot change overnight," added Lindemann and insisted that the strategy they are taking "is the right one."