The Texas retailer has been inducted into this year’s StorErotica Hall of Fame, honoring his four decades of leadership and influence in the adult retail industry.
(Note: This article appears in the August 2025 issue of SE Magazine.)
Reflecting back on decades of dedication to the adult retail industry, entrepreneur Gary Hartstein now enjoys well-earned evenings of peace. Raised in a family immersed in the business of adult entertainment, Hartstein chose to follow in their footsteps, leading to the success and admiration of the industry he has always considered home.
In the late 1970s, then in his twenties, Hartstein began working at his family’s drive-in theater, called The Red Bluff, located in Pasadena, just outside Houston. The family also operated The Broadway, an indoor X-rated theater in nearby Galveston. Hartstein soon found himself managing both venues, traveling regularly between the two.
Today, Hartstein is the co-founder (along with Paul Radnitz) of a thriving brick-and-mortar enterprise, New Fine Arts. His company owns and operates 10 successful stores across major cities in Texas, three more on Florida’s East Coast, and holds interests in an additional six boutique locations.
In recognition of his decades-long contributions to the industry, Hartstein was recently inducted into StorErotica’s 2025 Hall of Fame.
StorErotica spoke with Hartstein about his 40-plus years in the business and how his humble, low-key leadership style has fostered deep loyalty and exceptional performance among his team.
SE: You started in your family business in the days of X-rated drive-in theaters. Those must have been crazy times.
Hartstein: I remember working at a drive-in one Saturday night, and 1,600 people at $3 a head came through the theater. Forget the concessions, another profit source; that was just admissions. No telling how many more people were in the trunks.
SE: Growing up, did you always know you would work in the family adult business?
Hartstein: No, but I never left. Initially, my mother did the bookings for the theaters. I eventually took over her job, booking hardcore and softcore movies from theater to theater while still working in the drive-ins. Today, we have three New Fine Arts stores and another seven under other names in most of the big cities in Texas, except Houston, and three on the East Coast of Florida. We’re in El Paso, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, Texas; as well as North Palm Beach, Melbourne and Pompano, Florida.
SE: Most stores opening today are 1,200-2,000 square feet boutiques. Yours are 8,000-9,000 square feet?
Hartstein: Correct. I’m involved with another set of six boutique stores. They do much better, on average, per sale. But they don’t do nearly the volume my larger stores do.
This business has changed from time we started, and if you don’t keep evolving your not going to be in business. — Gary Hartstein
SE: Having much larger stores, can you utilize the space in a way that smaller stores can’t?
Hartstein: We have a large assortment of all kinds of items from a wide variety of manufacturers. There’s a big area for a smoke shop and a good selection of lingerie, plenty of room to add merchandise, and we’re always looking for a new profit center. The more stuff you throw in there, the more it attracts the populace. They like to see an extensive selection.
SE: What separates a New Fine Arts store from another adult retail store where a customer could shop? What are the defining characteristics?
Hartstein: What defines us is probably having a more substantial variety of merchandise than anybody else in the city. Nobody comes close to the assortment and size of our stores. We carry such a tremendous variety of SKUs that if you can’t find an item at one of our stores, you might as well go online, because no brick-and-mortar store will have it.
SE: What does the typical workweek look like for you?
Hartstein: On a typical workweek, I work out in the morning, then either visit my stores locally or call my out-of-state stores. Then I do some office work, followed by a walk in the park to get my alone time. I enjoy going into the woods, off the path, onto the dirt trails and just getting away from everybody. I also like to go fishing when I can. I’ve got my private place in East Texas, my happy place.
SE: You have adult stores in states that don’t support adult businesses. Have you had any legal issues related to being located in red states?
Hartstein: No, we’ve had no problems with those three stores in Florida. Landlords are happy with us; we’re good tenants. We’ve had legal problems here in Dallas — we’re the hotbed of obscenity and everything else. I’ve fought numerous battles and beaten the city on many things, making my attorneys quite wealthy in the process. But things are pretty quiet these days.
SE: What’s the best part of your job? And what’s the most challenging part?
Hartstein: Being your own boss is wonderful; that’s the best part. And although it’s challenging just finding people to work with, even that is not much of a challenge. I’ve got a good person overseeing my Florida stores, so it’s not a headache there. The most challenging part is just the day-to-day. That’s the bottom line. I’m very fortunate, and I don’t take it for granted. I try to be humble and just bring a low-key, calm attitude to everything I do.
Larry Kaplan has been the Legal Correspondent for E.D. Publications for 24 years. Contact Larry Kaplan at 313-815-3311 or email larry@kaplanstoresales.com.
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