There must be no uncertainty about what’s on sale at a enterprise referred to as Dongs, Thongs and Bongs.
But, in reality, many individuals who stroll into the shop at 1316 Main St. are shocked when they see what’s on the cabinets: intercourse toys, lingerie and marijuana smoking gear retailer.
The homeowners had been amazed the risque identify was authorized by the provincial Companies Office.
“The first identify we put ahead was one thing like ‘Big Bongs, Little Bongs’ and that was rejected,” chuckled Dustin Morrisseau, who owns the enterprise along with his spouse, Rhiannon.
“We had a couple of names picked out, however then my spouse blurted out I ought to attempt ‘Dongs, Thongs and Bongs.’ I mentioned that wouldn’t work, however I attempted it and it did. Everybody now comes right here due to the identify.
“What can I say? She was right about the name.”
“It just popped into my head,” recalled Rhiannon. “What can I say? It is pretty straightforward.”
The Indigenous-owned and operated enterprise will have a good time its first anniversary on Dec. 1. Neither proprietor imagined they’d be selling intercourse toys and pot paraphernalia.
“It was September and I saw this place here was for rent,” mentioned Morrisseau.
“I talked with the guy and I rented it, but I didn’t even know what the business was going to be.”
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The Indigenous-owned and operated enterprise will have a good time its first anniversary on Dec. 1. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)
So Morrisseau talked to his spouse.
“My spouse mentioned ‘I want to sell lingerie and sex toys’ and I mentioned ‘I want to sell bongs,’” he mentioned. “We couldn’t determine which to take action we simply did it half and half.
“We were real rookies,” he mentioned. “We didn’t have a marketing strategy.
“We just got lucky.”
The retailer has survived although close by retailers promote marijuana and bongs. The Love Nest, which sells intercourse toys and lingerie, is actually throughout the road.
At Dongs, Thongs and Bongs, the lingerie part fills the wall to the left of the door, intercourse toys are lined up on cabinets in the course of the shop, and the marijuana smoking equipment, i.e bongs, are beneath and behind counters to the precise and behind the shop.
The greatest selling merchandise within the retailer isn’t a bong.
“To be honest, she does better than me in sales,” mentioned Morrisseau. “I’m doing enough on my side, but the best seller is the sex toys. Lingerie and bongs are about even.”
Before they opened the shop, Morrisseau constructed fences.
“I enjoy this,” he mentioned. “It’s a lot different than being a fencer. It has been a lot of fun.”
Rhiannon mentioned she had shopped at intercourse shops for years and frequented the previous novelty present retailer San Francisco, an outlet in purchasing malls that bought household-pleasant objects on the entrance and never-so-pleasant merchandise on the again.
“You can’t go outside. You’re stuck at home. What else can you do during COVID?” he mentioned.
Morrisseau additionally had phrases of reward for an unlikely bedfellow who saved the enterprise going when it might have failed in its first 12 months: former premier Brian Pallister.
“He was giving out $5,000 grants to help small businesses,” he mentioned. “I benefited and it paid the payments and saved us afloat. It’s a grant, not a mortgage.
“It was very helpful.”
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is likely one of the extra versatile reporters on the Winnipeg Free Press.
Whether it’s overlaying metropolis corridor, the regulation courts, or common reporting, Rollason may be counted on to not solely reply the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — however to do it in an attention-grabbing and accessible approach for readers.
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