KNOXVILLE, TN — What some people consider appropriate for saucy brides and grooms planning the wedding night and beyond, others consider an offense to religious sensibilities. Such certainly appears to be the case with South Knox County’s recently opened and almost immediately closed Romantic Escapades.According to shop owner Greg Sayler, his store does not qualify as an adult business because its primary inventory item is bridal lingerie, hosiery, and items related to incense and scent. “As you progress through the store,” he explains, “then you end up in the adult section where the adult items are. But walking in the front door there is nothing there that is going to offend anyone.”
This didn’t stop the country from declaring it an adult oriented shop and slap a closed sign on it only three days after its New Year’s Eve opening because inspectors had not had the chance to scour its contents prior to starting business. This in spite of the fact that Sayler applied for his business license on October 16th.
While Sayler insists that his shop does not qualify, local officials quote from their definition of an adult store, which states that such an establishment is one that “as one of its principal business purposes, offers for sale or rental for any form of consideration any one or more of the following: books, magazines, periodicals, or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, compact discs, digital video discs, slides, or other visual representations, which are characterized by their emphasis upon the display of ‘specific sexual activities’ or ‘specified anatomical areas.'”
Sayler strongly disagrees, insisting that his shop isn’t “just an adult store. That’s not what we are, not an adult book store. We have adult items in our store, but we’re n adult enhancement store.”
Nonetheless, even prior to the closing of his shop, he says that a inspector informing him that “you’re not open legally until I saw you are.” This in spite of the fact that as of the Thursday prior to the end of the year, inspectors concluded that the store didn’t qualify as an adult business because less than half of its merchandise was adult oriented, meaning that Romantic Escapades will be open for business again.
The situation delights some citizens while disappointing others. Local channel 6 news reports that Blount County resident Nancy Richards believes that Sayler’s shop opened under false pretenses and deserves to be labeled an adult business. Further, she urges other locals not to patronize the shop. “I just hope people don’t go in there,” she prays.
Robert May was one of an unknown number of locals who did want to “go in there” but found himself unable to do so this past week. According to channel 6 news, he states that “They were open the other day when I came driving by and I just came by to do some shopping.” Alas, by the time May was able to budget time for his trip, the doors were closed with a note explaining why. “It’s a very religious area,” he observes, “A lot of people I work with are church goers and they probably have offense to it, but I’m a firm believer in free speech. If you don’t want to go in there, then don’t.”
Once Romantic Escapades re-opens, Sayler insists that he will check ID to ensure that all shoppers are 18 years-of-age or older. That’s probably a good idea, given that the shop will be subject to random inspections by the county because it contains any adult items at all.
