Tomorrow is a big day, and you’re in need of the best sex toy shops in Los Angeles today. We've got six for you here.
Despite the widespread cynicism, we all need a reality check. Valentine’s Day is not always awful. It's the one holiday of the year in which it becomes socially acceptable, welcome even, to gift another person in your life with fun, colorful sex toys explicitly designed to make everyone feel good.
Valentine’s Day is essentially the Halloween of dildos. A day on which vibrators, feathered ticklers, and spiked dog collars go marching together through the thin veil of the country’s Puritanical spirit world to open itself up to some good-natured depravity. And it’s generally all good.
So we’ve collected a few of our absolute favorite stores for sex toys and adult essentials in Los Angeles. In our experience, these stores are staffed by respectful, attentive individuals who demonstrate considerable knowledge and enthusiasm about the products they recommend. But also know when to leave you alone when you need it.
With sex statistically down and the blues statistically up, we’re going to need a lot of group effort around here to turn these celibate twenties into the roaring fuckfest life literally intended for most of humanity. Figuratively. We think.
Here’s something to get us all started:
Cupid's Closet
Westchester and Brentwood
Cupid’s Closet is like the Med Men of sex toy shops. It’s so beautiful and sex-positive you just stand there sort of gaping at the gleaming shelves for a minute before remembering that it’s a succession of devices designed to go in body crevices. From there, it’s all informed service from certified sex educators, guiding you through interactive displays of exclusive, state-of-the-art products backed by warranty, with a focus on non-porous toys and an AVN Award for “best boutique” to its name. Welcoming displays of kink, bondage essentials, curated sexual wellness and lubrication supplements, and nicely hung outfits for getting down and dirty are all markedly much more tasteful and sunny here, making you feel good about going in and walking out with your head high.
12201 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 720 - “Wilshire/Bundy.”
8340 Lincoln Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90045. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 115 - “Manchester/Lincoln.”
The Stockroom
Silver Lake
The Stockroom always helps us to push things up a notch. Starting with the greeting from a very comfortable-looking mannequin in a gimp suit into a space that looks like Urban Outfitters in an alternate kink universe. It’s a bespoke boutique of latex skirts and stockings, handmade leather restraints and whips, vegan leather dog collars, spreader bars fit to be hung on the wall, ready-to-go dungeon furniture, new wave electro-sex technology, and soft, simple silicone strap-ons. Beyond that is a touching story of a local Occidental student who wanted to tie up and discipline an eager partner without breaking their budget, eventually turning him into a leather-maker extraordinaire. That was 36 years ago. Yet you’ll still learn something eye-opening each time you step inside.
1769 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 92 or 603 - “Glendale/Branden (southbound)” or "Glendale/Clifford (northbound)."
Pleasure Chest
West Hollywood
With its origins in New York’s West Village, Pleasure Chest is a big bull of a granddaddy in our local sex store scene, having served West Hollywood since the mid-70s. Regardless of age, any place that sells designer sex furniture and several spooled varieties of chain by the yard demands everyone’s respect. But it’s not all dog collars, floggers, ball gags, and gimp masks here. You’ll also find a clean, tidy, encouraging environment and weekly sexual education classes on subjects like squirting, rope-work, anal penetration, and ceramic dildo-making workshops, as well as regular commemorations such as “Dyke Day” and “Anal August.” The Pleasure Chest really manages to celebrate the sheer fun sex with others and/or yourself can be, all within a single, small, iconic space. Especially if your idea of fun is being tethered to that St. Andrew’s Cross in the corner.
7733 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90046. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 4 - “Santa Monica/Spaulding (eastbound)” or "Santa Monica/Genessee (westbound)" or Bus Lines 217 or 218 - "Fairfax/Santa Monica."
Hustler Hollywood
Hollywood
Hitting the Hustler shop on the Walk of Fame kind of feels like the adult version of visiting the Disney Store in Times Square, with your resistance to overreaching corporate merchandising ever weakening to a weird sense of gratitude for being beckoned into the big brand porn party in the first place. It gets just a little distracting here, what with the fucking huge array of vibrant neon vibrators, booty plugs, spiked stripper heels, leather flogs, bright and raunchy box covers, novelty condoms, cheap lingerie, and shit in here. Larry Flynt’s handprints are in the cement outside. It’s a whole, cartoony, mainstream scuzz vibe is what we think is going on and it feels right at home in Hollywood.
6540 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 217 - “Hollywood/Whitley” or Metro B Line - "Hollywood/Highland Station."
Adult Factory Outlet
San Fernando Valley
The Valley, right? That’s L.A.’s horny little heart right there. In fact, if you moved to L.A. from somewhere else and are yet to date some bridge-and-tunnel smoke show from either of our Valleys, you’re totally blowing it (and we suspect, can’t handle it). Anyway, the San Fernando Valley naturally has a lot of adult shops, too, some more approachable/safe-feeling than others, and few, if any, bearing Apple store vibes. The more dependably clean comprehensively stocked, and friendly tend to be mini-chains, including locations of the vastly stocked Dr. Love’s Outlet, Sylmar’s Adult Factory Outlet, and Talk of the Valley Superstore (one of the city’s oldest adult stores). Yes, the Valley even has superstores for sex. It all makes sense.
7233 Canoga Ave, Canoga Park, CA 91303. Closest Metro lines and stop: Metro G Line - "Sherman Way Station" or Bus Line 162 - “Sherman Way/Canoga.”
15233 Roscoe Blvd, Panorama City, CA 91402. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 152 or 234 - “Roscoe/Sepulveda.”
12907 Foothill Blvd, Sylmar, CA 91342. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 690 - “Foothill/Home Depot.”
14510 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 155, 158 233, 240 or 761 - “Van Nuys/Ventura.”
15452 Devonshire St, Mission Hills, CA 91345. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 158 or 234 - “Devonshire/Sepulveda.”
Lovers
Various locations through Southern California
Lovers. It’s a nice name for a giant chain. It feels so decidedly non-sleazy, you could skip church on Sunday and justify being here (like The Library in O.C.). Name aside, Lover’s gets points for having a lot of locations where you may just need them most, serving Southern California and the Pacific Northwest with clean, informed stores brimming with products. While we await to see if Amazon or Blackstone could be the empire behind this adult store acquisition giant, we’ll content ourselves with its bevy of “Bunny Buzzer” cock rings, 140-stroke-per-minute interactive masturbators, rose-shaped pulsators, sheer teddies, palm-held vibes, and curved G-spot simulators from here to Tacoma.
