ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Located just outside of Biltmore Village in South Asheville, Boutique Royale offers lingerie, adult toys and novelty items to people of all shapes, sizes and sexualities. For owners Patrick Kennedy and Katie Collins, a married couple, creating a safe, inclusive space for their community was priority number one.
Kennedy said that the biggest thing he wanted to bring to his shop was a bright, welcoming atmosphere.
“Having worked at a previous business that had movies and magazines, that was the part of that business that drew in more of the weird, kind of creepy element that people are scared of when you mention this type of business,” Kennedy explain. “I don’t want to do that. I just want to have the lingerie and I want to have the novelties and just have a nicer, cleaner, friendlier atmosphere that isn’t going to weird people out, that’s going to be friendly and welcoming.”
Boutique Royale is intended to feel like any other clothing boutique around Asheville, just themed around adult wear.
“We can just treat it like any other business because, you know, we’re all adults. Everybody is having intimate relations of some kind. You know, hopefully,” Kennedy said. “We just want to help you get what you want to get for whatever you’re doing and just have a good time while you’re doing it.”
Part of how Boutique Royale created their approachable reputation is through inclusive inventory, a major passion of Collins.
“I wanted to have a size-inclusive range of lingerie, so we carry extra small to 5XL in the store,” Collins said. “Products, I carry a wide range of products for everyone. We also try to be really receptive when someone comes in looking for something and I don’t have it.”
For example, Collins said, several transgender members of the Asheville community came into the shop looking for a specific company’s novelty item Boutique Royale did not carry.
“[The company] do not wholesale, or at least I can’t get them wholesale. So, I scoured our wholesale distributors to find a similar product that we could carry and we did that,” Collins explained. “When our customer base comes in and they’re looking for something they can’t find elsewhere, I have a notebook where I write that stuff down and I try really hard to accommodate whoever is shopping’s desires that I can. That’s one thing that we’re really proud of here.”
According to Kennedy, those seller-customer relationships are accomplished through conversation and communication, something unique about Boutique Royale among other adult shopping centers.
“I think it’s just talking to people. Like, I feel like that’s another thing that people just are not used to when they go into most businesses like this. They’re not used to people talking to them at all, and some people still don’t really want you to talk to them,” Kennedy said. “As soon as people walk in the door, we kind of give them a little spiel. We’re just like, ‘Hey, how’s it going? Have you ever been in before?’ And if they’re like, no, we’re just like, ‘Hey, well, you know, just let us know if we can help.’ You know, just letting them know that we’re here for them and that we can answer questions.”
The shop has an open and transparent policy around their items, too. Boutique Royale offers a “tester” display on their countertop, allowing shoppers to pick up and feel items before buying their boxed variant, and has a dressing room for trying on lingerie and harnesses.
The shop is out to connect their customers with what makes them feel good as easily, comfortably and pleasantly as possible.
“You want something, we have it. We’re gonna help you find it the best way we can,” Kennedy said.
For more about Boutique Royale, visit www.boutique-royale.com, or stop by 117 Sweeten Creek Road, Asheville, N.C.
