Gay Village sex shop thrives among adult video club ruins
George Somers started out selling cartoon videotapes. Now, at 74 years old, he owns the biggest stock of gay adult DVDs in Montreal — and his business is thriving, generating a yearly profit of $1.6 million.
Standing out in the middle of the Village where most adult video clubs and DVD shops have been wiped out by the Internet, Wega Video miraculously flourishes: DVD sales make up for 60 per cent of their annual turnover and most prices range from $30 to $69, while toys and lubricants make up for the other 40 per cent. Eleven people work there alongside Somers, who opened Wega in 1997.
“It was a completely different thing then. All the walls were painted in black, we only had a few dildos,” he comments.
Since then, Somers has made a name for himself and extended the shop three times.
Including stock, Wega Video owns 4,500 adult DVDs; according to its website, the enterprise is now the leader in the Canadian gay adult industry. A new employee has just been hired to take up where the last website moderator left off.
“Most people who come here don’t want to use the Internet for pornography or don’t even have a connection. They buy DVDs to watch at home because of specific actors, trusted studios or directors, a bit like coffee table books,” manager Jean-François Paquette explains.
Most clients are men ranging from 35 to 90 years old; some have been coming since the shop opened.
Wega Video also has a video club, although it will soon shut down as clientele rarefies.
“I think that is why La Boîte noire (a video club in Plateau-Mont-Royal) closed down last June,” Paquette said.
Although Somers estimates the rise in Internet use caused a 40-per-cent loss of revenue over the last three years, his clientele is stable now.
“I have been coming to the shop for the past 20 years,” 68-year-old client Réal Grimard explains.
He regularly rents DVDs and sometimes buys one. Instead of streaming videos on the Internet, he likes coming into the shop and chatting with the owner. To Grimard, this human touch is worth spending a few more dollars. He reckons his visits might become less frequent if the video club goes down, although he still plans to buy a few DVDs.
Soon, Paquette and Somers plan to move the DVDs to the back and the toys and lubricants near the entrance. Sex toys and other accessories have slowly become the most profitable items of the industry since video sales have declined.
Both the owner and the manager invoke the need to appeal to gay tourists by displaying toys and accessories at the front. Regulars will know their favourite movies can be found in the back.
While Paquette said he thinks Wega will need to rely mainly on toys to survive, Somers disagrees.
“I know that the new generation will replace the previous one. When you grow old, it’s harder to pick up guys,” he concludes with a wink.