About Shameless
Shameless was born from a desire to create a comfortable and inclusive environment with curated tools and accessories for sexual exploration and wellness that suit all bodies and expressions based in a city we love, Durham, NC.
About the Co-owners, Parker & Alison
We've been friends for nearly a decade and we are so excited to work together to bring you Shameless!
Hey y’all, I’m Parker! I have been living in the Triangle for 15 years and am so excited to start this journey of Shameless sexual exploration and education! My background includes a bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science, and I am a licensed massage and bodywork therapist. Learning about the human body has been, still is, and will always be an important part of my life experience. The opportunity to share that passion with my community and loved ones makes my heart sing!
On the more personal side, I enjoy a plethora of hobbies, sports, and general shenanigans. These include martial arts, beginner carpentry, videography, and event production and stage management. Other frivolities include cartoons and anime, playing pool, and dancing at any given chance.
I'm Alison! I am equal parts scientist and artist. Prior to Shameless, I performed research studying biology and toxicology for seven years. Funny enough, I literally studied birds and bees. While I love being a scientist, I was ready for a big change that would allow me to work for myself but also connect to my community and be more creative. I am so excited to bring Shameless to Durham with Parker and exercise a little more of my creative side while still focusing on biology in the form of sexuality and sexual wellness. I want to use my knowledge and experience in biological science to help others feel comfortable in and well-informed about their bodies and pleasure. My main focus will be to make sure that we have accurate and extensive knowledge for our customers around any topic relating to sexual wellness, pleasure, and intimacy.
More about my artistic side: I work with mixed media; painting, sewing, and sculpting. You will definitely see some of my designs in the store. In my free time you can catch me roller skating- shout out to my amazing skating community, CIB Raleigh!
Our Goals
Our biggest goal with Shameless is inclusivity. We want to reject the binary standards of conventional adult stores and provide products for all bodies and gender expressions. We will be highly focused on serving our incredible queer community with items suited for a wide range of experiences. We also will be focused on providing products for bodies of all sizes and ability. Beyond toys and accessories, we plan to have resources like books and other print media on a wide range of topics from sexy to informative. We also plan to have fun stuff like crafts, cards, games, etc.
Our next goal is to provide quality products. We will provide the most body-safe products possible that are well-reviewed. In Shameless, you won't see cheap junk, but you will find a range of prices as well as items for beginner to intermediate users. Online stores can feel overwhelming with pages and pages of options, so we want to provide a curated selection of a few options for each type of toy and accessory that we know you will love. We will always make it a priority to partner with businesses and suppliers whose values align with our own.
Finally, we want to connect with our community. We want to partner with other businesses that share our goals to host events and workshops. We will partner with some of our amazing local experts in various realms of intimacy and sexuality to conduct events and workshops on a wide range of topics from fun to more serious or clinical subject matter.
Ultimately, we want to create a space for all people to shamelessly explore and nurture their sexual and intimate needs and desires.
Let's talk store VIBES
In collecting community input, it is clear that many people have had similar experiences with conventional adult stores: secretive, poor lighting, dingy carpets, cringey DVDs, mainly skinny, white, straight/cis- representation, a lot of junk, and a general cheesy and joking feel regarding sex and intimacy. At Shameless we want to provide a different experience. We want to provide an environment that you don't feel ashamed or nervous to walk into, with staff that are friendly and well-informed. While we certainly want to have fun with sexuality; ultimately, we will be approaching sex and intimacy from a respectful and researched perspective. We want to emphasize sex as a part of life that should be celebrated and discussed as a major contributor to overall health and wellness, and not something that can only be whispered about in veiled terms and phrases. And to those folks who already have a spicy sex life, not to worry we will have plenty of toys and accessories for more advanced play as well.
Currently, we do not yet have a Durham store front but we certainly have a vision for the future of Shameless! Whether it is in the form of a store front or a mobile store, we can't wait to expand from pop-ups to a more permanent fixture with an even wider selection of goods.
Every type of person has sexual or intimate needs and desires and we hope to showcase, celebrate, and support the beautiful diversity of sexuality through our products, customer interactions, and events.
