ATLANTA — The saga of beleaguered Georgia adult boutique Tokyo Valentino continues with a renewed attempt by authorities to shut down another of its locations.
The city of Atlanta is now alleging that Tokyo Valentino’s Cheshire Bridge Road location features unauthorized adult video booths, and even an after-hours sex club, news site Axios reported.
Following previous similar actions against the Southern chain, Atlanta has now issued Tokyo Valentino a cease-and-desist letter claiming its Cheshire Bridge Road location facilitates sex “outside of the building within plain view of residential structures.”
According to Axios, neighbors claim the boutique’s customers “are having sex behind vacant buildings near Tokyo — in plain view of the adjacent apartments.”
Confirming long-held local rumors, Tokyo Valentino owner Michael Morrison admitted to Axios that the location does have an on-site club, which “doesn’t serve alcohol and is a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community.”
According to Morrison, the diverse atmosphere “upsets the MAGA supporters.”
Morrison also told Axios that the video booths have been removed, and that Tokyo Valentino’s security has been instructed to prevent sexual activity.
“This will undoubtedly be solved in a federal court,” Morrison told the news site.
Long-Standing Moralistic Campaign to Shut Down the Adult Chain
As XBIZ reported, throughout the pandemic years, several Georgia municipalities conducted a campaign to shut down multiple Tokyo Valentino boutiques.
In October 2021, a Cobb County Superior Court judge ordered Tokyo Valentino’s East Cobb location closed in the middle of an appeal over a zoning and licensing dispute instigated by an alliance of local lawyers, politicians, law enforcement and a small group of religiously inspired “concerned citizens.”
The various city hall actions to shut down the adult boutiques led to a series of hearings where authorities made several outlandish claims about the products sold at the stores.
In July 2020, during a hearing to shut down Tokyo Valentino’s Marietta location over a code violation, a local policeman argued in favor of classifying shoes sold at the store as “sexual products.”
To illustrate his point, Sgt. Josh Liedtke of the Marietta Police Department recounted two undercover visits to Tokyo Valentino and brought to city hall a bag of “exhibits” consisting of merchandise he had purchased.
“They are not shoes you’d see on normal people walking around,” Liedtke told the Marietta City Council, adding that although the shoes were not “used for sex,” they were footwear “you’d see on strippers and ladies of the night.”
The city council proceeded to suspend and revoke the Marietta store’s license and ordered Morrison to remove all items from the store.
