Hold Off On that Bailout

Sex is still selling:

Point-and-shoot cameras, CDs and fancy woven handbags may languish on store shelves. But women like Ms. Weller, a nurse from Frederick, Md., are willing to splurge, spending as much as $100 or more for a pulsing rubber duckie or bath sponge, a vibrating bullet or lipstick tube. Their fascination with such battery-operated novelties is rendering luxury sex toys a thriving sector in an otherwise listless economy. [...]

Even in a lingering recession, “sex will always sell,” said Analena Graham, an owner of Dascha, where cone-shaped vibrators and jewel-tone fur ticklers are showcased alongside made-to-order corsets and aromatic oils. “You might tell yourself, ‘I can do without that $400 sweater,’ ” Ms. Graham went on, “ ‘but I would still like to have that rechargeable vibrator.’ ”

Also popular are pulsing cigars that turn into pendants, and pearl wrist restraints that double as necklaces. People are paying as much as $250 for similarly kinky designs, said Robyn Goodman, chief of American operations for Myla, a British-owned boutique chain and Web site. “They don’t feel like they’re getting a bit of smut,” Ms. Goodman said. “They feel like they acquiring a very boudoir-style, high-end luxury.”

Perhaps it is just me living in my frigid, conservative world; but I think that when you are spending $200-450 on vibrators you may not be feeling the Great Recession of '08-'09. in fact, you are probably a single women in your 30's with no dependents other than a few cats. Nothing wrong with that, I personally like desperate middle aged women, but none-the-less you probably aren't hit hard by a weakening economy.

Full story here.