Quinn says the Internet helped lessen taboos about pornography by making it so available. In the Midwest, chains of upscale pornography stores like Lover's Lane and Priscilla's have opened dozens of stores, and Quinn said he planned to open other Penthouse stores in suburbs across the nation.
"I have made millions of dollars," Quinn said.
While it is impossible to independently verify how much Quinn has made, Americans are estimated to spend over US$4 billion a year on adult movies alone. This year the book Underneath it All, by Traci Lords, a former pornography star, is on best-seller lists. Jerry Bruckheimer, the Hollywood producer, has created a prime-time television series about the pornography industry called Skin.
But there are still many who fiercely oppose the mainstreaming of pornography.
In Milford, the Kingdom Life Christian Church, an interfaith, nondenominational church, decided to take matters into its own hands and spent US$245,000 to buy the building that houses Video Pleasures, with plans to force the store out.
"On the first Sunday when we made the announcement that we were going to try and buy the building to get the store out, people jumped to their feet, yelling and screaming and clapping," said James F. Hashem, the chief of staff for the church.
He said he realized that the local government was limited in what it could do, so he hoped the church's action would inspire other people to find ways to close the stores.
Although he said the church has gotten angry mail -- mostly from people chiding them for not finding more important ways to spend money -- Hashem said the church bishop made getting rid of Video Pleasures a personal crusade after he found out that a family lived above the shop.
The crusade is not over yet: The store's owner has said he intends to renew his lease and stay for three more years. In the window of the store, on the first floor of a shabby brown house, there is a sign that says, "Christians welcome." A clerk said the owner did not want to comment, and added: "We are a porn shop. Leave us alone."
The lone shopper looked weary as he searched through the stacks of videos on wire shelves under a flickering fluorescent light.
The scene was different in the Penthouse Boutique.
Workers were returning the boxes of hardcore material to the store, stacking the shelves as mostly women browsed.
"I am dying to bring my friends here," said one woman, a cheery 22-year-old college student. "I am not denying it, this place is fun."
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