LIISA SPINK Passersby pass Zone d’Erotica, which should
open Feb. 4.
By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Staff
Westwood is strapping up and whipping its way toward being a
little more revealing, with Monday’s opening of a new
lingerie store on Gayley Avenue.
The store, Zone d’Erotica, which will sell adult sex toys,
lingerie and videos, is receiving mixed reviews from community
members and has prompted some to claim the store violates zoning
laws.
City zoning laws prescribe that an adult store cannot exist 500
feet from a residential area. The store is 375 feet from the Gayley
Terrace apartment complex.
Bambi Hall, the store’s manager, said the business is
intended to be a lingerie store, though she and her business
partner and fianceé John Coil want it to be an adult store. An
adult store could be cited under city code.
An assortment of lingerie is visible through the window, and
Hall said other hot sellers will be Kama Sutra books, oils and an
assortment of Wicked Enterprises videos.
The store also sells sex toys that range from vibrators to whips
and penis pumps.
Hall, who worked for Wicked Enterprises, an adult film company,
said she supports free speech and individual rights.
“If someone wants to buy a dildo, that should be their
decision, not the city’s,” she said.
Despite the store’s proximity to the apartments, there has
hardly been any negative response, said Hall, who has let people
check out the store before its opening.
“I’ve got people knocking on the door constantly,
even though we’re closed,” she said.
According to Lisa Hansen, spokeswoman for Fifth District City
Councilman Jack Weiss, preliminary information about the store
suggests it is in violation of city code. But the store can’t
be cited until it’s open.
The Zone d’Erotica on Venice Boulevard has existed for
three years and has not encountered any zoning problems, Hall
said.
Coil, who runs other adult stores close to major universities
such as Texas University, Texas A&M and Nebraska, said the
store is set up to follow the law.
But some people see the store as being out of place in
Westwood.
Councilman Weiss issued a statement that said: “The store
is the last thing Westwood needs because it’s not a good
fit.”
Coil said city legislators are trying to control too much of
people’s lives.
Fourth-year sociology student Drew Newhard said she wasn’t
offended by the store, but is surprised that she hasn’t
encountered older people who are.
“It seems weird in Westwood. It seems like it should be in
Hollywood,” Newhard said.
Coil, who wants to advertise in local newspapers, including the
Daily Bruin, said UCLA was an ideal location for the store.
“Students have intelligence and are open to new ideas. As
young people, you think, and as an old person, you feel,”
Coil said.
Coil said he is opening the store for sociological reasons that
parallel his religious beliefs.
“I want to expose as many people as possible to my
goddess, The White Goddess,” he said.
The basis of the worship of The White Goddess is sexuality, he
said.
Author Robert Graves has written extensively about The White
Goddess, whom he says created the universe and represents perfect
harmony, wisdom and peace.
“Our whole life is based on sex. I want to make people
more liberal in their attitude toward sex,” he said.
Some community members didn’t seem to have a problem with
the store and said it was a positive addition for Westwood.
“It’s about time; it could be a thing to do, like
going to the Hustler store in Hollywood,” said Mike Pakdaman,
a third-year cybernetics student.
Dean Abell, a graduate of UCLA who passed by the store, said it
is consistent with what other college towns have, and that Westwood
is lacking in that college-town atmosphere.
“There are very few things in Westwood that are
student-oriented. I think there will be more business from students
than anyone else,” he said.