Adult boutique opens in Arundel

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

http://blog.kennebunkpost.com/2012/01/05/adult-boutique-opens-in-arundel.aspx

Last year, Marilyn Roy of Arundel found herself unemployed in a tight job market.

She wanted to do something fun and interesting for a living so she opened an adult boutique. My eSensuals is a retail store that sells adult toys, lingerie and erotic literature. Roy opened her Arundel store in November.

Roy, who was born in Connecticut and raised in southern Maine, worked as a credit manager before she became the proprietor of eSensuals. The 53-year-old quit her job three years ago to care for her mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease.

After her mother died last year, Roy said she needed a new profession. She decided to open the adult retail store geared toward women.

“It was purely a business decision,” Roy said. “I wanted it to be fun – I have to work here. I consider this my job. I wanted a nice environment.”

Roy said she wanted her store to be low key and did not want to make any waves within the community by opening an adult retail shop.

“I’ve had minimal people oppose the project,” Roy said. 

She said she had a few concerned phone calls, but other than that she said no one has vehemently rejected the idea of her adult boutique.

She said “(Arundel) was wonderful,” but she did have to do some convincing when she pitched the idea to property owner, Bob Lindsey.

“I’ve got to give credit to my landlord,” Roy said of Lindsey.

Lindsey, owner of Bob’s Techcom, a computer repair shop in the same building as my eSensuals, said he asked other tenants in the Portland Road business plaza what they thought of Roy and her store.

“I did a lot of soul searching on this,” Lindsey said. 

He said not one tenant had any issues with an adult boutique in the plaza.

“(Plaza tenants) were all very supportive in (Roy’s business),” Lindsey said.

Lindsey said he wanted to clarify that while he supported Roy in opening and sustaining her own business, he did not support the adult toy business itself. He said he provided support as a business colleague and did all he could to help her be successful.

“I needed the rent,” Lindsey said. “She’s even got top billing on the sign.”

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