It’s true — Elvis has entered the building!

The humble Red Garter storefront shares its glittering 60-year history, which has served patrons of great fame including one Elvis Aaron Presley.

(Note: This story appears in the December 2023 issue of SE Magazine) 

Red Garter is a family-run adult store with a lot of history, according to Brett Westley, who co-owns the store with his mother, Roz Westley. Back in 1963, as Westley tells the story, his grandparents took a two-week vacation to California to visit some relatives. Palm Springs, which used to be called Palm Springs Village, was loaded with all of the Hollywood stars who had homes down there. And during that two week vacation, they decided to move. With how prosperous the community was, Westley’s tenacious grandmother decided that she didn’t want to work for anybody but herself, so she opened up Red Garter.

“It was a small little shop, in the 60s. They were selling pantsuits, and a nifty line of lingerie that was more the mature style of that time: long gowns and so forth.”

Over the years, as styles got sexier and sexier, so did the offerings at Red Garter.

“And by time the mid-70s hit, we were fully into the junior line. We were three stories wide, with nine employees in addition to our family. It grew into a huge store, with everything from lingerie to costumes, leotards, tights and dance shoes for adults and kids.”

Westley was just a baby during the Palm Springs era, but the photo albums tell him all he needs to know.

“Many stars came into our shop over the years,” he shares. “All of the Hollywood entertainers would come in: from Bob Hope to Steve McQueen, Charlie Hodge and all them. One that really stood out, as he became a great friend of my mom’s, was Elvis Presley. Colonel Parker would frequent, too, with his wife who was always after our pantsuits. The store just took off like a rocket,” he says. “It did very well in California.”

“All of the Hollywood entertainers would come in: from Bob Hope to Steve McQueen, Charlie Hodge and all them. One that really stood out, as he became a great friend of my mom’s, was Elvis Presley. Colonel Parker would frequent, too, with his wife who was always after our pantsuits.”

 

– Brett Westley, Co-Owner of Red Garter

But in 1994, Westley’s mother and grandmother went on another little two-week trip with the same effect as the first, and they moved again, this time to Branson, Missouri.

“The biggest change was moving out here to Southern Missouri,” shares Westley. “We don’t make as much money here as we did in Southern California, but we also don’t have the graffiti on the windows anymore. We still serve a lot of entertainers. We used to have a lot of national entertainers, but a lot of them are retired or passed on. My mom was always involved with entertainers back in California, and a lot of them would ask her, ‘What are you doing here?’ And she would say, ‘Well, the same thing you’re doing: getting out of South Cali.’”

Things are a bit quieter in Missouri than they were in California. Westley says that they don’t get a lot of tourists. The customer base is primarily made up of local working-class and entertainers, as well as dance schools, within about a 50-mile radius. The store is stand-alone in the Falls Shopping Center in Branson, Missouri, the same location they’ve been at for 28 years, having outlasted three landlords and all of the other retailers.

“It’s a little smaller shop than the one in Palm Springs, but our storefront is sexy,” he says. “We do our windows like we used to in California, like you used to see back in the 70s, with mannequins in lingerie dressed for the season, and lit up at night.”

Now Red Garter is celebrating 60 years in business. To ring in their major milestone, the retailer had an anniversary party in August which they invited customers to, with a gift basket raffle of $1,000 worth of goodies from all their distributors, vendors and firms. The event coincided with Mrs. Westley’s 81st birthday, and so they invited a concert player, Michael Knight, as well as other artists. Press attended, as well as a representative from Eldorado Trading Company. To top it off, a celebratory dinner was had at Landry’s Seafood House.

“Mom was totally tickled,” shares Westley. “She doesn’t get around as good as she used to, but we all had a great time. ”

Westley hopes to pass on the family business to his son, who is currently a General Manager of three stores for the Papa John’s Pizza Company franchise. Whether the store continues beyond him or not, he promises, like his 83-year-old co-owner, to stay on until he can’t anymore.

“No matter what, we’re going to continue,” he shares. “The next 30 years, we’re just going to make it bigger and better, to see what we can accomplish. I’m already setting goals for our 75th, which will be in 15 years, and I’m looking very seriously at acquiring a second store.”

For more information about Red Garter, call (417) 337-9542, email info@Redgarterbranson.com, or visit RedGarterBranson.com.