# Why are porn stores always open 24 hours? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481 "2001-07-14T14:42:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/1 "2001-07-14T14:42:55Z")
Why exactly is that? It’ll be 3:00 in the morning, everything else is closed, the town is dark, but the local smut shop is open. Every one I drive by has a sign in bold letters “ **OPEN 24 HOURS** ”. Are they really making much money at that time of night? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/2 "2001-07-14T14:55:24Z")
Milwaukee has local smut shops? I thought they were all down by Kenosha on the interstate! ---
**Author:** ![DVous\_Means](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/3 "2001-07-14T14:58:31Z")
Why are porn stores always open 24 hours? 'Cause Mrs Palmer never says no. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/4 "2001-07-14T15:06:25Z")
Because during the day I have to work, and the evening is usually spent with **Astrogirl** … The only time I can get there is after 11:00 or so, and I need time to _BROWSE_, if ya know what I mean!😉 Damn! These leather chaps and nipple clamps are uncomfortable… [sup]OH YEAH!![/sup]😃 Seriously, though… I bet it’s pretty cheap to hire some chump for minimum wage to clerk all night long, and they must be making money or they _wouldn’t_ be open 24 hours! Must be enough guys who visit during the night (maybe after the wife has gone to bed, and there is no chance of the neighbors recognizing the car) to make it profitable… ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/5 "2001-07-14T15:08:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > **Milwaukee has local smut shops?** Yeah. They have one right on the corner of 97th and Greenfield Avenue that everyone is super pissed about, because it’s in a residential area with kids and such. It’s very out of place and very inappropriate to be there. And, of course, it too is open 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![theendisnear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@theendisnear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theendisnear)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/6 "2001-07-14T16:46:34Z")
Actually, i’d be willing to bet they get more bussiness at night than during the day since alot of people might not wanna be seen going in or out of those places. ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/7 "2001-07-14T19:28:00Z")
The fact that porn is an “impulse” buy wouldn’t have anything to do with it, would it? _giggle_ ---
**Author:** ![theendisnear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@theendisnear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theendisnear)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/8 "2001-07-14T20:19:27Z")
Well i know i never woke up in the middle of the night and thought “I could really go for some porn right about now”. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/9 "2001-07-14T21:03:05Z")
Porn sleeps for no man. Or something like that. They even still _have_ porn stores? I figured that, with all the free porn on the net, Porn stores would have gone the way of the vinyl record and the 8-track. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/10 "2001-07-15T01:59:17Z")
Yes, there are a lot of them out there. I can think of four immediately, in small towns around mine. Two in Newburgh, NY alone. The fact that they both adjoin the Air National Guard Base at Stewart Aiport must be purely co-incidental… 😃 I’ve typically found them near off-ramps to interstates. Why, I don’t know. How many seasoned truckers can drive a big rig at 2am, and also view hardcore porn on their vcr/tv combo??? I guess the answer is…a lot? The business of going at night makes sense to me. Usually the parking is in FRONT, and visible from the roadway. You’re in Podunkyville USA, and most everyone knows your car. God knows everyone in town knows mine. How many dark blue Quests with gay pride rainbows on the back and a green emergency light on top are there in my town anyway… 😉 I wonder if there is a national association. Seriously. While I disagree with the thought of one being in a highly residential area, the idea of the stores being 24-hour doesn’t bother me in the slightest. It’s not like I keep a case of [Astroglide](http://www.harlube.co.uk/) in the garage or anything. God forbid I would run out… :rolleyes: . Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/11 "2001-07-15T02:14:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pkbites \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > > **Milwaukee has local smut shops?** > > Yeah. They have one right on the corner of 97th and Greenfield Avenue that everyone is super pissed about, because it’s in a residential area with kids and such. It’s very out of place and very inappropriate to be there. And, of course, it too is open 24 hours. \*\* The video store by interstate 894? I thought it was a mom and pop competitor to blockbuster. Oh well. I thought Milwaukee zoned porno out by mandating that 2/3 or some such percentage of the merchandise sold must be non-porno. But I remember that from years ago. Maybe things changed. As to why they’re open 24 hours, I guess there’s a demand for them. I always liked Baltimore’s solution to the problem, cram it all (adult entertainment) in one area of town, then build a police station next to it. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/12 "2001-07-15T03:14:04Z")
Gosh, I guess in some ways I’m doubly lucky. First of all, (one of) the local porn store has parking in the _back_, secondly, it’s all of eight blocks from home. Unfortunately [sub](um, if I went there, of course - which I don’t)[/sub], it’s only open until 2 AM. [sub]Or so I’ve heard.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![domina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@domina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domina)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/13 "2001-07-15T05:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by particlewill \* > \*\*They even still _have_ porn stores? I figured that, with all the free porn on the net, Porn stores would have gone the way of the vinyl record and the 8-track. > > Huh. > > \*\* Hard as it may be for folks like us to believe, most Americans still aren’t on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/14 "2001-07-15T05:43:29Z")
I know the owner of the Red Barn and the parking there is around back. The owner is seldom there, he just stops by to pick up money. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/15 "2001-07-15T13:12:30Z")
The major porn shops here also sell “tobacco accessories” (tobacco water pipes, tobacco one-hitters, tobacco gas masks, tobacco coke spoons, etc.) - is this just a local phenomenon or is it like this all over? Maybe that’s another reason they’re open 24 hours… I suppose it’s easier to move a 6-foot bong around without raising suspicion when it’s dark out. ---
**Author:** ![DVous\_Means](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/16 "2001-07-15T13:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by domina \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by particlewill \* > > \*\*They even still _have_ porn stores? I figured that, with all the free porn on the net, Porn stores would have gone the way of the vinyl record and the 8-track. > > > > Huh. > > > > \*\* > > Hard as it may be for folks like us to believe, most Americans still aren’t on the Internet. \*\* Here’s one of the few areas where Australia outranks the USA - we have one of the highest internet usage rates in the world. Which may explain why two attempts to establish a smut shop in my town have failed in the last three years. Why buy naughty photos in magazines when you can download them for free? ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/17 "2001-07-15T13:53:54Z")
The answer is obvious: if the night at the singles bar is a total loss, you can always pick up something for Five-Fingers-Mary on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-porn-stores-always-open-24-hours/72481/18 "2001-07-15T18:59:42Z")
[Homer Simpson hijack] (Homer has just been in a car accident) Insurance agent: This “Moe’s” you were at–this is a business establishment of some sort? Homer’s Brain: Don’t tell him it’s a bar! But what else is open late at night? Homer: It’s a pornography store. I was buying pornography. Brain: Heh heh. I would have never thought of that. [/Homer Simpson hijack]