Boise adult shop closes after 22 years, but not for the reason you might think

When Hustler Hollywood opened in Boise last year, it brought the number of adult shops on a mile-plus stretch of Fairview Avenue to three.

But competition from a national chain isn’t why Pleasure Boutique recently closed after 22 years, owner Lisa Hurley says. “It wasn’t Hustler. It wasn’t COVID.”

“God, I hate to admit this,” she explains with a chuckle. “I turned 66. It was time. I tell everybody I’m 49, but no, it was time to retire.”

After a final blowout sale two days before Christmas, Pleasure Boutique shuttered forever. Saying goodbye the last couple of weeks was “heartbreaking,” Hurley says. “I have had some of the best customers over the years.”

Pleasure Boutique opened on Orchard Street in 1998 near a popular fast-food restaurant. “McDonald’s loved us,” she remembers. “We brought them a lot of customers.”

A few years later, she moved the store to 5022 W. Fairview Ave., where it had operated since.

In December, Hurley sold the 6,895-square-foot building, leaving behind many fond memories.

Pleasure Boutique enjoyed a faithful clientele, Hurley says, despite the presence of Hustler Hollywood and longtime competitor Adam & Eve, a locally owned franchise store. Business did start to slow down eight or nine years ago, she says, but that was because of online commerce. “It’s the internet that has done more to the small business than anything,” Hurley says.

For more than two decades, Idahoans visited Pleasure Boutique to shop for lingerie, sex toys, massage oils, novelties, bachelorette party supplies and X-rated videos — all in a nonjudgmental atmosphere.

“Most of our customers were customers from day one,” Hurley says. “And how we treat our customers — this is a touchy subject. People get embarrassed so easily. I could tell you some of the most wonderful stories.

“We made people feel comfortable with who they are. I worked with a lot of urologists and the gynecologists here in town for a long time. They would send people in. And we’d go over whatever the issue was, man or the woman, and we’d suggest a toy or whatever needed to be suggested, bottom line.”

Male, female, straight, gay — Pleasure Boutique welcomed everyone, Hurley says.

“And couples that the priest or the bishop had sent in,” she says. “I had one of the LDS bishops come in and say, ‘I’m going to send a couple in. They’re having issues. I don’t want them in this section or this section.’ The toys, he didn’t have a problem with. The lingerie, he didn’t have a problem with. He did not want them in the videos.”

Speaking by phone, Hurley sounds ready for life after retail. Whether she’s “49” or not, she has five grandchildren in the Boise area. And Hurley feels good knowing that her former customers will be in capable hands, she says — right down the street.

Hurley calls the Hustler Hollywood company “a great group of people.”

“I support them 100 percent,” she says, “and let me tell you why: because their professional ethics are comparable to what was the Pleasure Boutique.

“My girls had impeccable customer service. That was the biggest deal to me — how you treat people. You’ll feel that Hustler treats their people wonderful.

“Paula, the manager down there, is an absolute doll.”

This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 1:50 PM.