In addition to her regular advice column, Unconventional Love, Elizabeth Busbee writes on topics related to sex. This week she takes a look at a woman-owned 45-year-old sex shop in Cambridge, Mass., Hubba Hubba.
This interview has been edited for brevity, clarity and style.
ERB: How have times changed since you first opened your doors? Are people looking for different things now that the internet is everywhere?
HH: Amazon and other online retailers are offering toys that seem too good to be true. Knock-offs and unsafe toys are just that… I am continually shocked that people are willing to put something in their body that costs less than their electric toothbrush.
I do understand the desire to use a delivery service, to have something arrive immediately without leaving your house from Target or CVS, however, the substitution and the product (plus delivery cost!) is really not as good. Plus, it may not be the right toy for you.
The opportunity of a store like ours is the conversation. While it may seem uncomfortable at first, it is amazing how many women have never even been asked “how do you come?” before even buying a vibrator. That is a big question.
ERB: Discretion is a big concern for people. Nobody wants a package to arrive that says, “horny person just mail ordered a box of dicks!” How do you handle discretion with your shipping?
HH: Actually, our last bag for purchases over $150 read “Not a bag of dicks.” That was in-store of course, but we don’t really think much about hiding from the truth.
We also offer plain black bags. Our website is very discrete with no particular designation.
ERB: What sort of things do you have stock?
HH: We carry about one-third toys and two-thirds clothing, accessories, lingerie, corsets, and Pleaser-brand shoes. Our toy selection is very heavily curated to feature value-driven items that suit most bodies and lifestyles.
We look for reliable, well-built brands that last, have great ethics, and support good health (yes, using toys are often very good for your health!).
Our website is operated through a consortium of many of our distributors so we can offer many products that we do not stock in the store.
ERB: These days a lot of people want to support small businesses rather than huge corporations. Who is at the helm of Hubba Hubba? I know, you’ve been woman-owned since the Seventies.
HH: MJ Pullins bought the store in 2019 after the original owner, Suzi Phelps, passed. MJ had been married to a world-ranked cancer researcher for over 20 years and spent most of her youth hanging out in the lab and with Nobel Prize winners, learning science while at the bars. She had been working in museums, marketing, and even with some local universities but never quite found her place. When she left her husband, she took the proceeds from the sale of their shared house and bought Hubba, saving the iconic institution once before and bringing together her lifetime love of fashion, music, health, activism, and of course, sexual wellness.
ERB: Lately you’ve been forthcoming about your business struggles. What’s been happening, and how can people help? Why’s Hubba Hubba so important for the local community?
HH: Cambridge (and Boston) has been hit especially hard by the current administration; many people in our surrounding area lost their grants, their jobs, their student visas, and the summer tourist season was non-existent. We’ve lost the ability to bring in customers from around the New England area because of construction, parking, and traffic.
In the past two years, local construction changed the water table so that our below-grade store now is extremely damp and water is pouring through the exterior facing walls, resulting in ridiculous utility bills and constant running of dehumidifiers and HEPA filters to keep our employees safe. It has taken a real toll on my health in the past two years, and I have done everything I could to keep it going.
Hubba is now one of the last stores of its kind remaining in the greater area. If we lose it, we lose the ability to have choice. We will have sexual health products selected by monopolies, if they are available at all. It is also one of the last few places where everyone is welcome, no matter your religion, your sexuality, your politics, we want you to be the best you can be. We just want you to be kind and accepting that others may be different, and that’s ok too. If this is important to you, if you think these kind of spaces should be supported, we have a GoFundMe available here.
ERB: Your physical location is in the Cambridge neighborhood of Metro Boston. It’s a close weekend getaway for most of our readers. What else can you recommend for a romantic weekend trip to Boston, aside from some sexy shopping at your store?
HH: After years in the store, what I have noticed about most couples (and it doesn’t matter what kind), is that most need to reconnect. It’s not about sex but about finding a spark. For a romantic weekend, I would recommend seeking out those places that you both share an interest, maybe it’s the Aquarium, or seeing the glass flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, or going to a ball game and sharing a Fenway Frank like the famous spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp. Mostly, it is about putting down your phones and just talking to one another, finding a way to laugh, and being really silly. Remember, this is all supposed to be fun!