By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

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.”

Lindsey said he knew town officials could oppose Roy’s store within 30 days after she received her business license, so he held off on the lease until that preliminary time frame had passed. He said he gave her one month before the Nov. 4 opening day to finish painting and other details.

Jim Nagle, Arundel’s code enforcement officer, could not be reached for comment.

“It’s been very quiet,” Lindsey said of the store since it opened in November.

He said there is nothing “that’s going to offend or appall” people who pass by the business and that My eSensuals sits the farthest away from the road of all of the businesses in the plaza.

Lindsey said Roy as a person is “not intimidating” and her demeanor and the way she presented her business plan helped him to trust in her project.

“Everyone thought ‘porn store,’” Roy said.

She said the store is not meant to be pornographic and she does not currently stock magazine and video inventory because she worries it might send the wrong message and attract a different clientele than the local women and couples she hopes for.

“I can understand why (skeptics) were sensitive,” Roy said, adding that she knew many people might be worried about whether teenagers and children would be allowed in the store.

The bulk of the inventory at My eSensuals consists of lingerie, books and toys. Roy said she implements a strict age requirement for her customers: no one under 18, even if accompanied by an adult, is allowed in the store.

“I don’t want to conflict with any parents and how they raise their children,” Roy said.

Roy said she tried to stock a variety of adult products that would appeal to varying lifestyles.

“My inventory is very diverse from very mundane to more risqué,” she said.

Roy said she plans to stock her store based on the recommendations by customers.

“I want to allow my customers to dictate where my inventory goes,” Roy said, but she plans to keep the shop “tastefully done.”

“Most of the reaction I get is (customers) come in and say ‘Wow, it’s not what I thought,’” Roy said.

Roy said her intention was to build a comfortable and unthreatening space for women of all ages to browse and purchase in confidence.

“It’s amazing when women walk in and say ‘I’ve never been in a place like this before,’” Roy said.

Many of Roy’s wares are marketed primarily toward women. She said she wanted to create a space for women to “explore and learn.” She said her female clientele has mostly been women in their 40s and early 50s. Roy said she has had some male customers as well.

“The nice thing is when you see a man walk in and encourage his wife to explore,” Roy said.

Roy’s retail space includes an upstairs loft, which is set up as a conference room. She said she plans to hold educational lectures for women and couples in the loft space.

Roy said she strives for a local, year-round customer base.

“This is for the locals. It’s not the  tourists who are going to keep me in business,” she said.

Roy said she looks forward to the tourist season and hopes it gives her “a little bump,” but out-of-state visitors will not be her “core business.”

Staff writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.