Fireworks pretty much can’t be sold in IL. We’re limited to sparklers and smoke bombs here.
Porn shops definitely exist in IL; there’s several in the city and at least a handful I’ve seen in the suburbs.
I guess I’m not looking in the right places… 
Oddly, down here at the St. Louis end of IL, it’s sorta the opposite. All the strip clubs are on the IL side of the river. MO does have fireworks & porn shops, but almost nothing in the way of strip clubs.
Would anyone like to buy a franchise in my new Porn’n’Cheese Emporium chain of stores?
Customers can play “guess that smell.”
One factor, I believe, is that I-94 goes from toll to free at the border. Porn shops tend to cluster at highway exits, but they can’t do that in the Chicago area where the roads are toll. It’s a pain in the ass to get on and off of a toll road, except at the overhead oases, and nobody (I hope) does so just to buy porn.
So by the time you get to the Wisconsin border, there’s a backlog of built-up demand for easy-on, easy-off wanking, and there are shops to supply it. There are an unusually large number of skeevy souvenir shops and Big Boy “family style” restaurants in the same area, and for I believe the same reason–these are businesses that like to locate off of interstate highways, but aren’t viable along a toll road.
Geesh, you make it sound like there’s a line backed up onto the freeway to get into these places…Reminds me of the episode of South Park when the internet was down.
I’ve noticed this near the VA/WV state line in Appalachia. The WV side seems to have more “XXX” venues (and boy do they advertise), but it can’t just be state law, because VA has gentlemen’s clubs and porn shops too (at least in Fairfax County, a bit away from the WV state line, so it may be that they are illegal in the more rural VA counties).
I heard they have some Internet down Californy-way.
It’s also possible that it’s because companies that have locations in one state don’t want to deal with two regulatory structures and keep apprised of two separate systems of state law. With “adult” industries, there could be devastating consequences of noncompliance.
E.g.
“Good evening, welcome to Mandatory Court-Ordered Sex Offender Therapy, where we work to help you control your deviant urges. Could everyone please introduce themself please.”
“My name is Bill and I’m trying hard every day not to touch my daughter inappropriately.”
“My name is James and I’m just starting out trying to figure out what makes me rape women in the park.”
“My name is Joe and I was the night manager for Excite-U Gentleman’s XXX Club of Northern Illinois. We got into a little regulatory kerfluffle because our procedures handbook was written based on Wisconsin law and we didn’t realize that our performers’ Affidavits of Adultivity needed to be filed at the local courthouse rather than just kept available on location for inspection. I was convicted and sentenced to 10 years, lifetime registration as a sex offender, and mandatory sex offender therapy as condition for parole. I don’t see how this program is really going to help me. I just need to be more skeptical of my supervisor when he tells me ’ Don’t worry about personally researching the law, just follow the employee handbook.’”
There’s one on Lawrence near the Admiral Theater.
I believe there’s a Lion’s Den in Indiana as well along I-80. It’s a bit further in though, closer to or past I-65 as opposed to right on the border. When we drive to Michigan from Chicago, I always notice that most of the I-80 billboards in Indiana seem to advertise either adult entertainment/products or fireworks.
Seriously? I didn’t think porn stores were able to advertise like that in Indiana. We’re a buncha puritans here, ya know.
There’s one on Lawrence near the Admiral Theater.
“The Internet crashed yesterday afternoon, and the nation was struck by a wave of productivity…”
I used to live near the state line in that area. I think the toll/free distinction has a lot to do with it, although with a twist. I-94 doesn’t become toll at the state line, rather it becomes toll about a mile in, after (I think) two exits. The last of these exists is US-41, which serves as a bypass of the Tri-State. If you took the 41 exit as the tollway begins, there were several adult stores about a mile more to the south. Although, we drove by our old place this summer and it seemed that the stores had pretty much vanished. This is a relatively recent development (last 10 years or so).
There’s been a lot of change on the Wisconsin side of the border as well, and it struck me that there were fewer adult stores and other small stores (fireworks, cheese shops) as well. For example, there are a lot more box stores on both sides of the border.
Wow, that’s either one really ripe Camembert, or Big Edna is back from vacation.
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I’ve certainly noticed the drive up to my parents’ place in the northwoods passes quite a few more Best Buys than it used to.
On the plus side, my father’s crippling Starbucks addiction is much better served now when he makes the drive.
The area immediately north of Milwaukee on I-43 is really, really different from even 6-8 years ago. Whole Foods, Panda Express, Best Buy, etc.