SE Magazine interviews Inz & Outz owner, Darian Porter, winner of our Holiday Display Contest.
(NOTE: This story appears in the February 2025 issue of SE Magazine)
Around the holidays, locals in Memphis, TN often mistake Inz & Outz on Union Avenue for a Christmas pop-up store. In fact, so many have walked through the doors looking to shop for holiday lights and ornaments that the owner, Darian Porter, had to put a sign on the door to inform the public otherwise. Their holiday displays are celebrated by customers year after year, so it comes as no surprise that they were selected as the winners of StorErotica’s Holiday Display Contest.
In this interview, Porter provides valuable insight into their store display practices and how they get more customers in the door all year round.
SE: Tell me a bit about yourself and how you came to own Inz & Outz.
PORTER: I began working at Inz & Outz a little over 20 years ago as something to do a few days each week. After several months, the previous owner was considering a buyout offer, but was concerned about how changes to the store. The potential buyer wanted to add a video arcade. Inz & Outz began as a store for the LGBTQ community and he didn’t want that to change.
So, I started thinking about how much better I could make the store and decided to make an offer. I became the proud owner in May of 2005, and with the help of a few people in the industry, I began to build a bigger, better vision for Inz & Outz.
SE: Who are your customers, primarily?
PORTER: Although we started primarily as “the gay store,” we have always accepted and appreciated all our customers. One of our early collaborators told us, “You don’t get to tell your customers what they get to buy. They tell you what they want, if you will listen.” We have tried to take this advice to heart and over the years have slowly gained a larger following of singles and couples, old and young, of all sexual proclivities.
SE: Tell me a bit about what inspired your holiday store display and how it has evolved over the years.
PORTER: We decorated some for Christmas in our old space, but the new space is so much better since we now have these huge windows that face the street. The windows have evolved every year. We are always on the lookout for new and different items to add to our decor.
My partner Jeff Holt spends over 100 hours putting them up. He does what he can during normal hours, but builds out the displays late into the nights. Jeff’s family, especially his grandmother, has given us items to use for our store displays, and this year, we got to add items that came from my father and grandfather, which makes this tradition even more special.
SE: What led to your “Not a Christmas store” sign? There has to be a story there!
PORTER: After the first few years, we had to add a sign on the door that says, “We apologize but this is NOT a Christmas store. We simply enjoy Christmas.” This was the result of many startled people who would make it about 10 feet into the store before it dawned on them that there were an awful lot of penises hanging on the walls. When this happens, there’s usually a pleasant exclamation of “Oh my! I think I’m in the wrong place!” Sometimes followed by, “Oh, wait, I need some dirty Santa gifts.” While many exited quickly, a few have become repeat customers.
Our regulars now get a big kick out of the sign asking, “Are you sure this isn’t a Christmas store?” Our typical reply is, “We have items that you can use for decorations but you probably don’t want to waste them on a tree.”
SE: Do you have any product display tips for other adult store retailers?
PORTER: We have found that sometimes simply rearranging products will drive new interest in items we’ve carried for years. We get a lot of “Oh, this is new,” which we get quite a chuckle out of.
SE: What tips do you have for other adult retailers struggling to get customers in the door?
PORTER: We can’t stress enough how important it is to build relationships with your manufacturer and distributor reps. We couldn’t have maximized our growth over the last 20 years without their assistance and advice. Additionally, we help out with Sexual Health and Wellness Week at a local college which helps destigmatize our industry and introduce new customers to our store. As sexual health and wellness awareness has increased, we’ve utilized manufacturer training to help us serve our customers better.
For more information, visit inzandoutz.com.
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