The Trump campaign’s Saturday-morning press conference outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping in an industrial commercial area in northeast Philadelphia has been a source of chagrin for some and a good laugh for others. Whether the choice of venue was intentional or not (the Trump camp told the New York Times that it was, but not many seem to be buying that), it’s surely changed things for Four Seasons and the other businesses in the area, like the crematorium across the street and, notably, Fantasy Island, the sex shop down the block.
Fantasy Island has been in business in its current location for forty years, according to its owner, Bernie D’Angelo, who spoke with Slate about how the infamous presser has affected his business.
On Saturday morning, before the election was called in favor of Biden, nobody in Fantasy Island knew what was happening—clearly, they hadn’t been glued to Twitter that day, like many others. “One of our customers said, ‘There’s something happening, it looks kind of crazy out there,’” D’Angelo said. “We started seeing the sheriff’s department, all the cop cars, trucks, looked like Secret Service or some type of security for Rudy [Giuliani], I’m assuming.”
One of his employees, a man named Jacob, was none too pleased about the hubbub. “They opened at 9 AM and by 10:30 AM, their parking lot was swarmed by Giuliani and his posse,” TMZ reported. “With all the hubbub and cameras, Jacob says customers were spooked and couldn’t get to Fantasy Island’s front door.”
A store employee who spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer (and who, judging from his dour tone, may also be Jacob), said that “the Trump train” took all the available parking in the area. And, although Sunday—the day after the presser—is “normally the store’s busiest day of the week, more people than ever were gawking outside but none were stopping in to sample his wares,” the Inquirer claimed.
“‘It is a circus,’” the employee said. “‘But to be honest with you, it doesn’t surprise me. That’s Trump.’”
But Fantasy Island’s owner, D’Angelo, seems to have gotten a kick out of the debacle, despite his employee’s misgivings.
“It’s funny. I’ve stayed at the Four Seasons. I know the difference between the two Four Seasons. One’s a landscaping business, and one’s a nice hotel,” he told Slate. “Basically, I was pretty much in awe of the funniness of the whole situation.”
And, now that the press conference has ended, said D’Angelo, interest in Fantasy Island is soaring. “It’s helped me out,” he said.
A steady stream of visitors to the industrial neighborhood has seen many taking selfies in front of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping sign and business entrance down the street.. And meanwhile, D’angelo told Slate, “My Fantasy Island Facebook page has been blown up. I’m past 7,000 people commenting on everything that’s been going on.” He’s even had to “order some more stuff” and make special arrangements with distributors and shipping companies to stock his shelves fast enough, he said. “We could never afford advertising like this. This is worldwide. I don’t know if I’ll ever trend like this ever again.”
Fantasy Island, he said, sells everything “from Dick Rambone to a lubricant called FuckWater, to basic normal vibes, six-to-eight-inch vibes, multispeed, multifunctions. The Fleshlight, the Main Squeeze…all types of harnesses. A lot of just normal-type vibrating things. Male enhancement pills, and female stimulation pills.” And now, he reported, “We even sell hand sanitizer and stuff because the times have changed at the moment.”
The store doesn’t have a website or any online ordering system that this reporter can find. But their Facebook page accepts DMs, and there’s a phone number listed, should you want to place any orders that way.
