Not your mother's Tupperware party
By Grace Rauh
The Argus
STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - Fremont company offers lotions, sex toys for women at private get-togethers
FREMONT -- It's easy to imagine a women's church group sipping tea and swapping Bible stories.
But buying sex toys?
Vicki Kriner and Justine Schroeder say it's true. The women co-own Scarlet Girl, a Fremont-based company that sells sensual toys at private, Tupperware-style parties in the Bay Area and beyond. Scarlet Girl peddles everything from scented massage oil to edible body dust, and when Kriner and Schroeder are working a party, they don't leave home without their vibrator collection.
"Our best clients are women who are ready to spend time and money for themselves. They want to pamper themselves a little bit," said Kriner, 29.
The new company has run more than 50 parties since January and its buyers include middle-aged women, mothers and churchgoers. Hardly the crowd you would expect at a rundown sex shop with blacked-out windows.
"It becomes much more legitimate when you (buy sex toys) with your friends," Kriner said. You "remove the seedy factor."
Kriner and Schroeder are officially launching the company's Web site, http://www.scarletgirl.com/, and its catalog Friday.
Scarlet Girl is not the first company to put sex toys on living room tables. Pleasure Parties in San Francisco and Passion Parties in Brisbane are also breaking down barriers. But, according to Kriner, there is still a long way to go.
"Obviously, we all got here in the same manner, (yet sex is) still such a sensitive and taboo topic, even for married couples," she said.
Against that backdrop, Kriner places a high priority on her clients' comfort. Saleswomen arrive at parties dressed professionally, towing a suitcase on wheels.
"The neighbors have no clue," she said.
She and Schroeder start by introducing women to body lotions, oils and lubricants. Some skin products are warm, some cool, some tingle, one numbs and others are flavored to taste like berries, mint chocolate and oranges. Products are passed around and women test them on their hands and arms.
Some women at Scarlet Girl parties are discovering sensual goodies for the first time, while others are looking to add to their sex toy collection.
At first, partygoers "don't see anything intimidating," said Schroeder, 27. "Then we bring out the harder, more serious stuff."
Serious stuff includes a waterproof vibrator with a tropical floral pattern, German Smart Vibes and the Jack Rabbit, one of Scarlet Girl's most popular items, made famous on HBO's "Sex and the City."
It has "a big following," Schroeder said.
At one party, a woman grabbed Kriner's arm to claim the toy. At another, a young married woman said very matter-of-factly that her husband told her she had better buy one.
When women find a toy they like, word travels fast. Indeed, Kriner and Schroeder say they often hear impromptu testimonials from partygoers about specific products. It makes their job easier.
"It's fun, too," Kriner said. "You see the light bulbs go on."
Staff writer Grace Rauh can be reached at (510) 353-7010 or grauh@angnewspapers.com.
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