Good Vibrations
| About us | Open Enterprises is a worker-owned, women-owned cooperative providing access to accurate sex information and sex toys, books and videos through its retail, call center and publishing companies, to promote healthy attitudes about sex. Our branches include Good Vibrations retail stores in San Francisco and Berkeley, California, the Good Vibrations mail order catalog and our publishing companies, Down There Press, Passion Press and Sexpositive Productions. We are a democratically-run worker-owned cooperative with a staff of approximately 100 people. Sex therapist and educator Joani Blank started Down There Press in 1975 as a way to provide needed books on sexuality for her clients and the public that were not available through mainstream bookstores and publishers. Her first book, The Playbook for Women About Sex, was published in 1975, and The Playbook for Men About Sex followed shortly after in 1976. In 1977, dismayed by the lack of resources for women seeking accurate sex information and good quality sex toys, Joani opened the first Good Vibrations retail store in San Francisco's Mission District. She set out to make Good Vibrations a friendly, clean, well-lighted alternative to conventional adult bookstores, and her efforts met with immediate enthusiasm and appreciation from both women and men. The store flourished over the years, thanks to a faithful and supportive clientele. In 1987, Open Enterprises was incorporated in the state of California, with Joani as the sole board member and stockholder. Our first Good Vibrations mail order catalog offering books, vibrators and other toys debuted in 1985. We launched The Sexuality Library book catalog in 1988 after deciding our customers might be better served by separate toy and book catalogs (with videos being added to The Sexuality Library a year later; since then we have recombined the two catalogs into one). At about the same time, we began to pursue democratic management in earnest. Joani had always encouraged her employees to participate in decision-making, and as she began pulling back from the daily running of the business in order to pursue other interests, staff met monthly to discuss policies and procedures, including setting their own salaries. In 1990 an internal debate sparked discussion about the possibility of Joani selling the business to her employees, and soon we were researching worker-ownership models. After meeting with consultants and lawyers, our staff decided to purchase Open Enterprises from Joani and to restructure the business as a worker-owned cooperative. In October 1992 we reorganized as a California Consumer Cooperative. Since then we've continued to grow as a coop and a business, working to define and refine our alternative workplace (there are so few role models!), while striving to survive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Indeed, we have much to be thankful for. In December of 1994 we opened our second retail store in Berkeley and expanded our mail order hours. Our publishing company, Down There Press, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2000. |
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| Industry Focus | Sex Products, Books, Movie |
| Business Type | Distributor/Wholesaler |
| Products/Services | We carry a large variety of upscale adult toys, novelties, books and videos. |
| Our Markets | Worldwide |
| No. of Employees | 101 - 500 People |
| Annual Sales Range(USD) | US$5 Million - US$10 Million |
| Year Established | 1977 |
| Legal Representative(CEO) | Beth Doyle, general manager |
