In 1981, Phyllis Heppenstall dove into adult novelty party planning, forming the basis for a company that has evolved into retail, wholesale, manufacturing, and online novelty powerhouse Peekay.
The company, which the online-savvy will recognize as xxxpresstoys.com, has evolved from humble beginnings. Its founder saw an ad in Playboy for adult party planning – essentially a Tupperware party, but with dildos – and thought it was something she might like to try.
“It was interesting. I basically started with $600 in my basement,” Heppenstall says. “I went to L.A. and got some stuff and came home and started doing home-party plans. Six months later, I had a half-million dollar business and 35 reps working for me.”
She started with only 25 items for sale and people often stopped by her house to purchase them, but that business was successful enough that it prompted the opening of three retail stores in the span of 13 months in 1981 and ’82. Even though she had no experience in retail, the stores became successful almost instantly; something Heppenstall credits to Peekay’s marketplace-altering focus.
“Our focus was women and couples,” she says. “Why should we be closeted, and why should we be ashamed of where we shop? To bring that model into the bedroom communities and make it okay for couples—that’s been a mantra for us and still is.
“Back when we opened our store there wasn’t really a clean environment for couples to shop, so we really pioneered that boutique store,” Heppenstall continues. “People from all over have copied our stores, and I think that’s the greatest sign of success.”
From retailing, Peekay expanded into wholesale (PK Wholesalers). In 1985, Heppenstall converted her party planners into independent businesswomen, setting up the wholesaling operation in the Pacific Northwest. Although she only planned to serve Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska, she soon had orders from all over the country.
The largely female-based operation – Heppenstall’s partner is her daughter Kris Butt – moved on to manufacturing from there, filling voids in the market with lines of oils and lotions.
“I would get so frustrated when I wanted to order something and couldn’t get it, so by that token I became a manufacturer,” Heppenstall says. “That allowed us to sell to distributors as well as wholesale. We’ve really leveraged a lot of what we’ve done.”
Peekay’s Sutera toy line was launched last year.
Today, Heppenstall and her family, who largely compose the company’s board of directors, are out of the day-to-day operations of the business. Their participation is focused mainly on selecting new locations to open retail outlets and positioning Peekay for future growth.
With 31 stores in Washington and California – operating as Lovers, Condom Revolution, and A Touch of Romance – a successful wholesale operation, its own novelty lines, and prominent websites like xxxpresstoys.com and traffic generators like NaughtyCards.com and KinkyCards.com, Peekay now is going back to basics.
“I know customer service is an overused term, but I came from other industries, and I know the customer is king,” Heppenstall says. “If you don’t treat them well, someone else will.”
