CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Three visionaries in the world of pleasure products are the latest class of inductees into the AVN Hall of Fame - Pleasure Products Branch.
Sara Lee Goff of Sara’s Secret and Condoms to Go, Helene Kusens of Honey’s Place and Michael Trigg of Trigg Laboratories mark the ninth class of inductees into this branch of the Hall of Fame. The inductees represent the retail, distribution and manufacturing segments of the pleasure products industry.
The induction officially takes place at the 2019 AVN Awards Show. The ceremony will be hosted by adult stars Romi Rain and Bailey Rayne on Jan. 26. MyFreeCams is the presenting sponsor of the 2019 AVN Awards.
In addition to the co-hosts, the AVN Awards Show also features comedian Esther Ku, as well as musical guest Cardi B.
Goff opened her first Condoms to Go store in 1992 in Dallas, a relatively conservative major city. At the time, Goff was looking for ways to promote the use of condoms for a few reasons: one, she had several friends who died of AIDS, and two, she and several friends found themselves divorced and once again entering the dating scene, which had changed drastically.
But Condoms to Go—and its sister Sara’s Secret stores—obviously stock more than condoms. The boutique-style stores were a far cry from the adult bookstores that peppered Dallas’ red-light district at the time, and still cater to women and couples.
She also helped other store owners in Texas, fighting a court battle many would have passed on. In 1995, after granting Goff a certificate of occupancy for a new location in Carrollton, Texas, city officials there filed criminal charges alleging the store was in reality a sexually oriented business. In less than 10 minutes, the jury ruled in Goff’s favor. The case was used as leverage over other Texas cities, and in 2008 a ruling in a federal appeals court opened up sales of pleasure products throughout the state.
Honey’s Place was founded in 1994 by Helene Kusens, mother of the current owner, Bonnie Feingold. Kusens had years of experience as a sales rep in the adult business when the company she was working for went out of business. So she started up her own enterprise, Honey’s Place, in a former beauty shop in Los Angeles.
As a small boutique-style distributor, Kusens carved out a niche for herself by focusing on customer service. And not just any customer service—she would go to stores and help the retailers think strategically about their clientele. Her advice on redoing wall displays, making the atmosphere softer and more inviting, and following trends in the novelty business had clients coming back to Honey’s Place again and again.
When Kusens passed away in 2002, Feingold took over the reins, expanding on everything her mother started.
Michael Trigg founded Trigg Laboratories—makers of the Wet family of personal lubricants and and other sexual wellness and consumer healthcare products—in 1989. Trigg initially opened a 1,000-square-foot facility in Southern California by maxing out $150,000 on his credit cards and selling off real estate investments he’d made throughout the 1980s. Trigg soon became well known for helping to develop premium personal lubricants with brightly colored, fun packaging.
"In the late '80s, everyone was very concerned about the transfer of HIV. We saw the growth of condoms skyrocket," Trigg noted in an AVN interview in 2007. "Because condoms are more likely to break without the use of a lubricant, the timing was right to hit the market with a 'fun' packaged lubricant. At the time, lubricant use was increasing 15 percent per year. People were beginning to understand that a lubricant not only eased condom use but enhanced their pleasure a great deal."
Initially marketed to gay men, Wet soon found a wider audience amongst straight women, men and couples. As the sales grew, so did the company: first, the manufacturer moved to a 63,000-square-foot facility in Valencia, Calif., and a few years ago relocated to a 70,000-square-foot plant in Las Vegas.
The Wet brand is available in all major drugstores and mass-market retailers in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in adult specialty boutiques and online stores in more than 60 countries around the world.
