Turning Sexual Wellness Into a Contact Sport

On a cobblestone block in Soho, tucked between luxury boutiques, is a nondescript storefront that could be a new streetwear retailer, or house the latest contemporary brand.

But it isn’t.

Contact Sports is a sex shop that subverts the typical indications of an adult store. There are no neon signs, no seedy posters and no latex lingerie displays. Instead, the sleek 700-square-foot space is designed to resemble a 1970s locker room with wood-panelled cubbies that display vibrators, body wax candles and other sex accessories. At the entrance, customers are met with a wall of red roses and racks of hoodies and socks with a red rose insignia — Contact Sports’ own branding. Everything else is sourced from other brands, including direct-to-consumer vibrator brands Maude and Dame.

“A lot of sex shops are uncomfortable, guilt-ridden and dated,” said Justin Kerzner, who created Contact Sports alongside his wife, Chelsea. “We wanted to make sex fun.

Contact Sports is among a number of emerging brands shifting the narrative around sex away from curtained backrooms and toward the front of the aisle. Sephora began carrying Maude on its e-commerce site in 2022 and brought the brand into stores last month, while Ulta Beauty offers its online customers a selection of devices and lubricants from lines like Vush and Foria. This week, sexual wellness brand Dame announced a partnership with Target.

Goop, the lifestyle brand founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, recently launched a platform called Goop Sex aimed at encouraging deeper conversations around sex and sexuality. This launch comes at the heels of the retailer’s popular virtual sex shop, where Goop sells devices, topicals and accessories from brands like Smile Makers and Lelo alongside its own line of vibrators.

“The sex shop is our number one category of highest demand within wellness,” said Kiki Koroshetz, the vice-president of content at Goop. “It’s definitely our highest growth category as well.”

The sexual wellness category will continue to expand into brick-and-mortar retail, said David Schneidman, director at Alvarez and Marsal Consumer Retail Group. The devices market alone is expected to reach $30 billion in 2026, according to data analysed by PwC, up more than 7 percent compared to 2021.

Partnering with major retailers is an effective way for sex accessories brands to reach new customers, according to Schneidman.

“Retail offers brand equity and creates awareness, especially in a category that is all about surprise and delight,” he said.

While startups in the sexual wellness space typically specialise in one or two products, Contact Sports — cheekily named around the idea that sex is a physical activity — wants to be the premier multi-brand retailer for the entire category. It carries products from over 70 direct-to-consumer sexual wellness brands. Prices for sexual devices range between $100 and $1,000.

The challenge for Contact Sports, however, lies in its merchandising approach. While the boutique unapologetically considers itself a sex shop, retail chains like Ulta Beauty and Target incorporate sex devices into the beauty and wellness category, which help alleviate the taboo of sex, according to Schneidman. Major retailers also tend to foray into the category online first.

But mainstream consumers are beginning to adopt sex positive attitudes, and Contact Sports will be at the forefront of this shift in mindset. Not everyone will be ready to shed the stigma of sex entirely; that’s why Contact Sports might be difficult to scale outside of major cities like New York, said Schneidman. And that’s where retail giants like Target and Sephora are bridging the gap.

“Contact Sports is addressing sexual shame head on,” said Alexandra Fine, founder of Dame Products. “Our products really get to shine there, while our packaging really needs to work [hard] on the shelves of mass retailers.”

Unlike traditional sex shops, Contact Sports does not carry lingerie, in part to keep the store non-gendered. The founders are hoping to court “grown-ups,” – an older and sexually-experienced clientele base composed primarily of middle- to higher-income millennials and Gen Xers.

Using the store as an education hub is a priority, said Chelsea Kerzner. The store will also host regular events, such as sports viewing and speed-dating parties.

“Sex is a delicate topic and we’re hoping to tap into the consumer that is mature and knows their boundaries and limitations when it comes to sex. We’ll reach Gen Z one day, we just think they need more time to mature,” she said

But the founders are not turning their backs on novice consumers. Lower-ticket items such as candles are meant to serve as an entry point for the consumer and an incentive to visit the store once more.

Looking ahead, the founders hope to ramp up their marketing and brand awareness. They have goals to expand its concept to other cities, and will begin the fundraising process within the next six months.

“We’re starting small, which means there is no place to go but up,” said Justin Kerzner.

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