Startups never have it easy. But Marcelle LeBlanc -- partner in The Velvet Box, a Fort Worth firm that sells lingerie, books, games, adult toys, massage oils, lubricants and bath items out of two polished boutiques -- is an unusual case.
Stymied in her search for store locations in the city's center, LeBlanc rented space two years ago in the Alliance Corridor and bought a building for another store that opened this summer in the trendy West Seventh Street area. Last month, Alliance sued her after a yearlong dispute, saying LeBlanc is operating illegally as a sexually oriented business. Fort Worth police have run vice officers twice to the store and concluded that it doesn't meet the city's definition of an SOB.Not a shrinking violet, LeBlanc joined the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, participating on leadership committees, donating to events like drawings, sponsoring a networking event in August and vexing chamber officials who, LeBlanc says, initially didn't know what to do with her. Billboard advertising has been an adventure, with two firms taking her discreet boards and one saying it would run only LeBlanc's logo and no other words. On the other hand, fire departments and other charities ask regularly for donations, and she says she complies after first asking the groups to define their "level of comfort."Usually, she says, that level is "nothing that vibrates.""One mom called and asked for a gift basket" for a school event in Keller, LeBlanc, 39, said. "I asked her if she was sure she knew who she was calling. She said, 'Oh, yeah, I shop there all the time.'"LeBlanc, who has 10 employees, says she wants to operate three to five stores. Whether she will face this much of a challenge in the future isn't clear.But Rodger Chieffalo, who denied LeBlanc a spot in a shopping center he co-owns off Foch Street in the West Seventh area, says LeBlanc is at the vanguard of a "whole new generation" of retailers that he says are expanding in Texas and should flourish in Fort Worth as it grows and diversifies."Bottom line, it's a sex toy and clothing store, and it's a really nice one, and it follows all the rules, and Fort Worth has never had anything like this, and that's what's going on," Chieffalo said.He said he and his partners turned down LeBlanc because they were looking for stores that are more closely aligned with the fashion and furniture stores in their building.But he says LeBlanc is a strong addition to the neighborhood."I think she's got a great business, and I love the fact that she's here," Chieffalo said.Susan Geissler, co-owner of Ascend Concepts, the Fort Worth creative agency that runs the Visit 7th brand of the 7th Street Business Association, to which LeBlanc belongs, agrees."We're becoming a small Austin," Geissler said. "I think we're embracing a lot more of the avant-garde."After pestering Sam Moon for a spot, LeBlanc signed a five-year lease on 2,000 square feet in the Sam Moon Center and opened in December 2009.Sam Moon, the popular Dallas retailer and developer and LeBlanc's landlord, owns its property, which is part of the Alliance Town Center. The Alliance center is owned by Hillwood and Trademark Property of Fort Worth.In September 2010, the Alliance Town Center Association, a body responsible for enforcing covenants with Sam Moon, sent LeBlanc a letter accusing her of violating city ordinance and the covenants by operating a sexually oriented business. The letter and eventual suit, filed in state District Court in Fort Worth, didn't specify the violations, and LeBlanc says Alliance attorneys have refused to lay them out.Hillwood, Trademark and their attorney, the prominent Kelly Hart & Hallman firm in Fort Worth, have declined to comment.Daniel Moon, Sam Moon's general counsel, says his company is "kind of stuck in the middle.""We are taking a neutral stance on this and hope that Hillwood and The Velvet Box can work this out on their own," he said in an e-mail. "We want to make sure we have a great relationship with Hillwood, but also want to look out for the best interests of our tenants."LeBlanc says Sam Moon has offered free rent for the remainder of her lease if she agrees to move out and seek another location."I said absolutely not," LeBlanc said. Moon declined to confirm that or respond to other questions.The Velvet Box filed a counterclaim last week against the Alliance association, alleging illegal, "willful and malicious" interference with The Velvet Box lease and seeking punitive damages."What else can you think but that it's willful and malicious and just an attempt to shut the business down based on whatever other agenda they have?" said Frank Cram of Mansfield, LeBlanc's attorney. "The city has determined we are not in violation of any of their ordinances."Asked whether Alliance may attempt to define The Velvet Box as a sexually oriented business under criteria other than the city's, Cram said the suit relies "so heavily on references to public codes and ordinances, if they're going to try and show anything else, I don't think they're going to have much of a case."Police, after their latest visit to the Alliance store, said "this location sells novelty items and does not fit the criteria of a sexually oriented business."LeBlanc said she moved to Fort Worth to be closer to her father, who was living in Louisiana and ill. She was working for Christal's, a Colorado adult-products retailer with stores in Fort Worth and elsewhere in Texas, and agreed to run the Christal's operations from Texas.LeBlanc says she had the upscale Velvet Box idea in mind and left Christal's to pursue it. Her partner, a businessman who has an adult retail store in Dallas, backed the startup, including the purchase of the Morton Street building, she said.Asked to describe the difference between her stores and traditional adult stores, LeBlanc said she has "no videos, no magazines, no DVDs. We don't sell anything shaped like a body part." And her gregarious employees act as consultants to customers, she said."We wanted to offer a place to shop for all the women who won't shop at the other place or who go into Christal's and then rush out," LeBlanc said.The $129 We Vibe II, a couples vibrator whose sales exploded after it appeared on Oprah, generates 8 percent of sales, LeBlanc said. She doesn't disclose total sales but said sales were up 68 percent in October over the previous year.Her relationship with the chamber has become easier over time."I am encouraged when a new retail business expands in Fort Worth. It adds to the tax base and provides jobs," said Marilyn Gilbert, the chamber's executive vice president of marketing.Scott Nishimura, 817-390-7808Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
