Ann Summers

Ann Summers is the most successful British chain of High Street sex shops. As of 2004, it had just over 100 stores targeting the "pleasure retail" market. In 2002-2003 the privately-held company had a turnover of £110m.

The company was named after the female secretary of the male founder and has always targeted female consumers. It is a chain of unlicensed sex shops, which means that because of Britain's laws on licensing of sex shops only a small proportion of their products can be sex toys and the range of pornography sold is limited. The chain also has stores in Australia, Spain, and Ireland.

In 1981 Jacqueline Gold, daughter and niece of co-chairmen and owners David and Ralph Gold, having joined the company in 1979 as a wage clerk, launched the Ann Summers Party Plan - a home marketing plan for sex toys, with a strict "no men allowed" policy. These parties were and remain immensely popular, providing women with an excuse to meet for a party and talk about sex, and have entered British popular culture. They also provided the company with a way of circumventing the law which limited their presentation space for sex toys.

Jacqueline Gold was made a director of the company in 1987, and in 1993 became Managing Director (1). In 1999(2) the chain opened its website, and in 2000 it acquired the Knickerbox brand and its range of premium site lingerie kiosks.

External links

• Ann Summers website
• Jacqueline Gold website

Notes

1. Note that the jacquelinegold.com website says that she became director in 1987 and Chief Executive only in 1993, whereas Ann Summers corporate literature says she was heading the company as soon as 1987.
2. Again the jacquelinegold.com and company websites are contradictory - the former saying that a web presence was established in 1999, the latter in 1997.