Because We Think Globally and Kink Locally

Among the unlikeliest of brick-and-mortar success stories to survive pandemic-related restrictions, Fantasy for Adults Only has withstood the brutal whiplash and extended beatdowns of digitized dominion to emerge, sweating and slightly breathless, more prominent than ever.

Over the past 30 years, Fantasy has smoothly pivoted from arcade multiplex and casual encounters hub to adult parlor, equal parts pervy toy store and fashion-overly-forward boutique. Now, Fantasy has filled the hole of local makers producing quality fetish wares toward satisfying a new consumer base concerned with locally sourced merchandise.

“Since I started 15 years ago, the store’s been constantly evolving and changing,” says Fantasy merchandise buyer Wil Tietsort. “We’d begun closing some of the arcades even before COVID to focus more on toys and apparel.”

While attending a Portland KinkFest around 2012, Tietsort ran across a few local vendors and was startled by the masterful work on display, “amazing floggers made of leather or faux leather with a handle on one end and tails on the other—such craftsmanship!” he says. “I knew we needed to have these in our stores, and it all sort of grew from there.”

Tietsort continues:

“We’re not like every other big-box adult store selling mass-produced stuff that you can get anywhere,” he says. “Most of the local vendors we carry reached out to me—Fluid Rope, Kynx by Brynx, Clone-A-Willy—and by bringing in quality local products, we become part of the community that makes Portland interesting.”

Tietsort, himself a former clerk who spent more than a year advising clientele on which glass dildo best fit their lives, further credits staff for elevating the mini-chain’s brand across all four metro-area stores. (Fantasy supplies but does not own or operate a fifth outpost of the same name in the founder’s hometown of Missoula, Mont.)

“I feel like we cater to a wide range of people—longtime customers, newcomers to the city—and each place has its own unique feel,” he says. “Our Clackamas store has some very knowledgeable staff at a suburban location without much traffic that still brings in a really good number of people interested in kink.”

“After 15 years in this business, nothing surprises me,” he laughs, “but I’d never have thought Clackamas could sell so many diapers.”