After 33 years in the business, Al Bloom has been around: He founded Chicago-based Capital News in 1970, spent a couple years in Cleveland at Trans World, worked with 8mm reels at Cinema Classics in the late (and pre-video) '70s, started Cabellero in 1979 (buying the company in 1985). He stuck with Cabellero until moving over to Doc Johnson in 1993, jumped to Goalie in 1999, where he worked until May 30.
With a resume like that, Bloom pretty much has his pick of jobs, but this time around - Bloom started a new position today at California Exotic Novelties (CEN) - he was looking for more than a job, he was looking for location.
"I had cancer, that was the major move," Bloom told AVN.com. "All the rest of this is just window dressing. It totally changed my life. I'm in the process of moving to Orange County to be near my wife and my grandkids, which is my priority, and I'm coming here to work for Susan [Colvin], because she's the closest one to where my grandkids are."
With his decades of experience, Colvin has decided to let Bloom find his own place in the company.
"I'm doing anything," Bloom said. "My card just says 'Al Bloom.' I'm going to be doing a lot of marketing work, trademark and copyright, artwork, advertising - whatever Susan needs me to do, that's what I'm going to do. It's a fast-growing company and they have a handful of people wearing a lot of different hats, so I'm going to try to tear down the number of hats and give them some relief."
Relief is what the sex toy business is all about, and this January CEN will celebrate a decade in the business.
And relief is what the sex toy business is all about. In January, CEN will have been in business for a decade - the celebration of which Bloom will be planning. What kind of celebration does an industry veteran plan for the 10-year anniversary of one of the industry's premier toy companies?
"I have no idea," Bloom told AVN.com this morning. "It's my first day. I haven't even had a meeting yet. But it's on the list."
