LOS ANGELES -- The best and brightest in the adult entertainment business once again flocked to the posh Grand Ballroom at the Century Plaza Hotel for the 2014 XBIZ Awards and the retail community once again celebrated outstanding achievements during the past year. (photo galleries)
Castle Megastore garnered the XBIZ Award for Retailer of the Year - Chain, returning to the winner's circle after capturing the same award in 2011 and 2009. Castle Megastore has been in business in 1987, growing from a single store to a chain that spans across New Mexico, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Most stores provide anywhere from 5,000 up to 16,000 square feet of retail space. Castle Megastore’s focus has always been on creating a fun and friendly shopping experience for singles and couples looking to “Educate themselves in the Art of Sex.”
London Based retailer, Coco De Mer won for Best Retailer of the Year - Boutique. The company’s brand name originates from the rare coconut of the same name that is grown on the Seychelles Islands and that is said to resemble the unique curve of the female body. Coco De Mer delivers an upscale, classy, and uniquely quirky British spin on adult retail.
Coco De Mer’s Covent Garden store is decorated in lush colors and stocked with some of the finest high quality lingerie and adult novelties on any continent.
Last year Good Vibrations heard its name called for Best Retailer of the Year - Boutique. This year the retail giant heard its name called once again for the Progressive Retailer of the Year award.
Good Vibrations has been a market leader in adult retail since 1977. In many ways, Good Vibrations led the charge for clean, sex-positive retails spaces where women and couples could explore their sexuality in a safe environment. Good Vibrations will open its eighth retail location in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood on Feb. 7. It has plans to further expand its retail presence in 2014.
Progressive Retailer of the Year is a new award for XBIZ The Progressive Retailer Award is reserved for those who are both leaders and innovators in their field.
Fleshlight won the XBIZ Award for Online Retailer of the Year - Pleasure Products. The company is one of the great success stories of adult retail, having turned from just a pleasure product into a cultural icon featured in mainstream movies and even endorsed at one point by indie auteur director and personality, Kevin Smith. Fleshlight continues to make some of the most popular toys for the male-focused toy market, and they also offer one of the best online buying experiences on the web.
Stockroom.com continued its dominance in the Online Retailer of Year - Specialty category, repeating its 2013 win. Stockroom.com sells some of the most highly regarded BDSM products on the market today. The Los Angeles-based retailer handcrafts a full range of leather and latex products that please kinksters from L.A. to NYC.
Adam & Eve also returned to the XBIZ Awards winner’s circle in 2014. Once again Adam & Eve took home the trophy for Online Retailer of the Year - Full Range.
This is a repeat for Adam & Eve, which won the same honor last year. Adam & Eve is one of the most respected brands in adult retail, garnering mainstream attention and consumers who are looking for a discreet way to shop at home.
Adam & Eve General Manager Bob Christian told XBIZ after he hoisted the trophy, “It feels fantastic! We don’t work for awards, but when we get one it is incredibly exciting.”
Christian continued, “We take nothing for granted. We keep working harder.We keep thinking of better things to do. What do customers want, what they respond to, what they need. And if it works, it works. And it feels great when it works…. We’re going to keep producing great movies and content, and keep increasing our line of toys and pleasure products and lingerie.”
The repeats continued when International Video Distributors/East Coast News took home another XBIZ Award for Distributor of the Year - Full Range.
Entrenue earned the XBIZ Award for Distributor of the Year - Specialty. The Arizona-based company had taken the award last year for Distributor of the Year - Pleasure Products and continued its award march in 2014. Meanwhile, Eldorado Trading Company took home the award for Distributor of the Year for pleasure products.
Rounding out the night, the San Fernando-based B2B wholesaler, Honey’s Place, which won for Progressive Distributor of the Year. Europartner Distribution walked away with the XBIZ Award for International Wholesaler of the Year.
For a complete list of winners, click here.
Backstage Winner's Circle photo of Adam & Eve GM Bob Christian by Rick Brenes.
