Kitchener committee approves licence for second Love Shop

KITCHENER — Arguing that times have changed, the manager of a Love Shop outlet asked city councillors to exempt the store from a bylaw that requires adult businesses to be a certain distance apart.

Councillors agreed with him, unanimously approving the appeal and saying that the city shouldn’t stand in the way of a business that has operated without problems.

“Before, there used to be the old seedy porn store,” where people might buy porn and then view it on-site, said Ed Reiber, who manages the Cambridge Love Shop and who came to Kitchener’s community services committee on

Monday to ask for an exemption from the city’s bylaw.

“Now we’re more of an upscale store. You walk in, you shop, just like any other store, you buy your items, you pay for them, you go home. There is no entertainment like you would see at a strip club or a massage parlour.

“It’s a big difference between the old days and nowadays,” Reiber said, adding that his store isn’t much different than Walmart.

When many businesses are threatening to cut back employee hours because of higher minimum wages, it doesn’t make sense for the city to impede a store that is willing to expand, Reiber argued.

Love Shop wants to open a second Kitchener store at 2399 Kingsway Dr. But the city’s bylaw says a sex shop can’t be within 400 metres of other types of adult businesses and there is a massage parlour just down the street at 2271 Kingsway Dr., about 180 metres away.

The rule is meant to prevent adult sex shops or strip clubs from clustering in any one part of the city.

Bylaw staff also rejected the application because the site isn’t zoned to allow adult businesses, though the city’s planning staff are considering a change there in 2018 as part of a larger overhaul of the city’s zoning. Reiber said his company is used to the time and expense of working through planning approvals, and added the site is ideal because it’s large and isn’t near schools.

The Love Shop, which sells sex toys, lingerie and adult movies, already operates a store in Kitchener on Victoria Street North, as well as stores in Cambridge and Waterloo. If it’s approved, the Kingsway store would likely fill 7,000 to 10,000 square feet and employ as many as five people, he said.

“When you have a business coming along that wants to put people to work, why not?” he said.

Coun. Scott Davey argued in favour of allowing the licence, noting that city bylaw staff have never had any problems with this business. “I’ve never been a big fan of government ruling on the morality” of businesses, he said.

The committee’s decision must be ratified at the next council meeting, and the shop will still need to get planning approvals before it can go ahead.