Melinda Myers, the founder and owner of Good Relations in Eureka, California, was still in college when she got invited to attend her first pleasure products home party.
“I thought it would be gross, but it wasn’t,” Myers recalls. “It was super informative and educational. The person who was the presenter at that one happened to be a nurse practitioner, a women’s health specialist. I thought, ‘This could be really cool.’”
We spend a lot of energy creating this sort of personal connection with people that lasts over time.
In 1983, Myers channeled that inspiration into founding her own home-based pleasure-party company: Good Relations. Over the next 12 years, the company hosted 2,000 parties — 1,000 of which she hosted personally. Then, in 1995, the first brick-and-mortar Good Relations boutique opened in Arcata, California.
“I never really had grand designs about owning something large where other people did all the work,” Myers says. “But the demand was outgrowing what we could do with parties.”
The store moved to Eureka a few years later, and in 2023, Good Relations celebrated its 40th anniversary by expanding into its current storefront at 329 2nd Street.
Now, more than four decades since Myers threw her first home party, Good Relations has become a hub for sexual wellness in Eureka and beyond. The store offers a wide assortment of toys, lubes, lotions, sexual chocolates, lingerie and dresses — as well as a customized “concierge” service designed to optimize customers’ shopping experience by matching them with products that best fit their needs.
To stay on top of the latest trends, Myers draws upon not only her retail experience, but also her past work as a licensed clinical psychologist and a college professor teaching psychology and critical race, gender and sexuality studies at Cal Poly Humboldt.
One trend she has noticed is an upswing in male customers. She attributes this rise to the upscale atmosphere at Good Relations, as well as broader changes in consumer behavior and societal views on sexual wellness products.
“Some of the men who are shopping with us have told me that they appreciate having a place to go that isn’t sleazy,” Myers says. “Some of them have been to sticky-floor stores before.”
Over the years, Good Relations has had to overcome challenges such as inflation, supply chain issues, discrimination from credit card processors and the recent implementation of new tariffs. In spite of these challenges, however, she strives to keep her products affordable.
“Not everybody’s got $90 or $100 or $150 to spend on a bra,” Myers observes. “Where I live, that’s a stretch. So I need to make sure that I can fit people and not break their budget. We also have things that are a splurge — but compared to high-end retail stores in major cities, our ‘splurge’ items would be considered moderately priced. We have to match what our customers can handle, and I think we do that well.”
Myers has also noticed that her customers have become more informed, and are now looking for products with multiple uses or benefits.
“People do come in looking for things that can be synced with various other kinds of media,” she notes. “There are also customers who are more educated about materials and ingredients than they were a couple decades ago, which I think is awesome.”
The biggest hurdle Myers sees on the horizon at the moment, not only for her business but all adult retail stores, is the right-wing push to revive enforcement of the Comstock Act. Passed by Congress in 1873, the Comstock Act was a federal anti-obscenity law that criminalized the use of the U.S. Postal Service to send “obscene” materials, contraceptives, abortifacients and information about these items.
“I can see it spreading through the South and then through much of the country,” Myers predicts. “Because it’s a federal law, it would make it a felony for somebody like me in California to ship something to a customer in Texas or Georgia or North Carolina, if it could be considered obscene under the standards of the Comstock Act. And the things that are considered obscene under the Comstock Act would shock you.”
Myers currently employs three other staff members, all of whom have worked with Good Relations for several years. Myers says much of the company’s success can be attributed to her employees’ skill in assisting customers.
“We spend a lot of energy creating this sort of personal connection with people that lasts over time,” Myers says. “Because of that, we can often do something unexpected for somebody that they find delightful. We do it all the time.”
That personal approach, along with an inventory of products that match customers’ needs and desires, have enabled Good Relations to achieve its impressive longevity.
“I live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere,” Myers reflects. “If I sold crappy products, I wouldn’t last. If I treated my employees badly, I wouldn’t last. But I run my business in a way that is congruent with how my community sees itself. So we’re still here.”
