One moment, she's packing online orders. Another, she's providing information (and an inexpensive vibrator) that helps a 70-something woman have her first orgasm.
"My work is sometimes painfully average and sometimes so extraordinary it's unbelievable," says Jennifer Pritchett, 32, owner of boutique sex shop Smitten Kitten.
And it rarely feels like work to Pritchett, who opened her Lyn-Lake store in 2003 and a second one in April in Denver. The one downside is missing her young son while she spends one week a month in Denver.
Pritchett, who has a master's in women's studies, launched her shop because she thought she could do better than the crusty sex shops and novelty-quality items she had found as a consumer.
Sales are growing but not at the double-digit pace the store enjoyed before the recession, Pritchett says. To help consumers on a budget, she tries to carry products in all price points.
"You can spend 10 or 15 bucks and get something great, that I am totally confident you're going to get your 10 dollars worth out of," she says.
Vibrators are easily the top seller followed by lubricants and massage oils. Products designed for men, though, outnumber those for women.
Smitten Kitten fulfills Pritchett's vision for a safe, progressive shop with high-quality, nontoxic toys as well as educational resources, and it carries the world's largest selection of nontoxic sex toys. The shop has also started a nonprofit program, Coalition Against Toxic Toys, to help educate consumers.
