Numbers are mutable, as statistics-busters love to point out. Is the year 2000 the end of the previous millennium or the beginning of the new one, for instance? Was the November GVA West Open House the fifth or the third annual event?
Both, it turns out; depending upon how you look at it. For the company overall, it was the Fifth Annual Open House, but for Erotech, the more recently acquired novelty distributor aspect of the Super Source, it was the third. Whichever way you slice it, according to Bob Wolf, Erotech's general manager, "Once everything was tallied, both General Video and Erotech had their most productive open house to date."
Such a statement of success may owe some of its punch to GVA's new approach to this past autumn's event. Whereas previous open houses were crowded with vendors and included many adult stars available for signing autographs, this time the whole affair was more laid-back, with additional elbowroom for more comfortable product browsing. According to Wolf, "... the main emphasis this time is to give people an opportunity to come in and shop." And shop they did. "The customer response/participation was simply outstanding. From beginning to end there were customers walking the aisles, pulling products, asking questions, and basically getting to know us as a company in a more intimate manner." And isn't intimacy what this business is all about?
Fewer vendor tables and stars meant that visiting merchants could take up not only more room, but also more time with exploring a warehouse full of DVDs, videos, games, books, toys, lotions, leather items, and the like. Even with fewer vendors, there were representatives from a number of companies on hand to answer questions, including Doc Johnson, Erostar, California Exotic Novelties, Topco Sales, Arrow Productions, Adam & Eve, Avalon Enterprises, Extreme Associates, Fat Dog, Dane, Caballero, Heatwave, Leisure Time, Metro, Seduction, Sin City, Samurai, VCA, Vivid and Wicked Pictures. Attendees could also linger a bit longer with the performers, chatting and having photos taken with Kobe Tai, Serenity, Gina Ryder, Krysti Myst, Shyla Foxxx, Stacy Valentine, Shay Sweet, Teah, Chris Alexander, Mark Davis, and Jasmin St. Claire.
An estimated 400 guests attended the GVA West Open House, taking advantage of the leisurely pace, tasty buffet, convenient hand scanners, special prices, opportunity to ask questions and see merchandise they may have only read about in catalogues. According to Wolf, many of those who responded to the approximately 2000 invitations sent out own smaller shops, including boutiques. Owners of such businesses often don't get the opportunity to explore the full range of merchandise options available to them and may be unaware of some of the items that can be carried even in less liberal areas of the country. Given that the GVA/Erotech catalogue contains 64 pages of names, numbers and prices, choosing from among them can be a real challenge to anyone who hasn't seen the merchandise in question. Fortunately, as the company proved during the open house, GVA West was eager to help. "Our line of products can be stacked up against any major distributor in the nation. I have no qualms about saying that. I feel very strongly about the job we do. I think we do as fine a job as anyone in our turn-around of orders and the variety we offer the customer. And we still try and really focus on the soft side," Wolf explained, after a warehouse tour. "Our line-up of that type of material is absolutely second to none, because we believe that the boutique segment was and is such an important segment of the market. Not everyone can carry hardcore stuff on their walls. We want to give [everyone an] alternative."
Soft erotic couples tapes, instructional videos and massage products weren't the only alternatives available to the hundreds of GVA West Open House guests, however. After a hard day of shopping in the warehouse, attendees could relax at a trendy local dance club, enjoying '80s flashback disco and club music, snacks, drinks and plenty of sexy porn stars in the flesh.
