UPDATE: Owner of store selling sex toys say the police chief just stopped by and threatened “severe punishment” if he stayed open.

ZEELAND, MI – A downtown business selling sex toys has been told to close the shop as an illegal adult bookstore.

“Grimlock’s Emporium for the Misbehaved Lady!” is a fledgling business that caters to women with “exactly what you think we sell and … more."

The store, located 36 North Elm Street, created a stir the day after it opened. The city on Friday, Feb. 21, said it had issued a cease and desist order to keep the doors closed. Owner Patrick Cooper, however, opened doors at 2 p.m. and let customers inside.

“Everybody who has stopped by has been happy, been excited for this type of thing,” Cooper told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press.

City Manager Tim Klunder said no one expected such a business to suddenly open downtown. City officials got wind of the venture Thursday night on social media. The business had opened that afternoon.

Klunder said the city issued a cease-and-desist order to close the business and had alerted Zeeland Police Department.

Klunder said that such a business isn’t allowed downtown. He said Cooper, who owns a tattoo shop, “Z.ink,” in the same building, did not seek approval for a special use.

“It’s an adult bookstore by our definition,” Klunder said. “They’re not appropriately zoned for that type of use.”

The only place such a business could locate would be in an industrial zone.

The city’s municipal code defines an adult bookstore “as an enclosed building used for the sale of motion picture films, videocassettes, magazines, posters, and other printed material, or tapes, or sex objects for other than contraceptive purposes ….”

Cooper contends that sex toys aren’t the only things sold in his store. Regardless, what some call sex toys, he calls jewelry. There are gifts, too, such as wine glasses with funny or raunchy sayings.

“In all seriousness, it’s very silly. In reality, it’s not really set up to be a quote, unquote, sex shop here.”

He said the store is intended to be a place where women can buy sex-oriented products in a comfortable setting. He conceivably could host “Pure Romance” parties, where sex toys can be bought, in a nearby apartment without any problems, he said.

Cooper said there are no stores like his. He acknowledged that it’s a little unusual in the small, conservative town where the city flies “Feel the Zeel” flags downtown.

“Not a lot of people were expecting this,” Cooper said. But, he said, “People want this stuff.''

He has no signs outside of the business, and someone would have to get up close and peek through windows to see what’s inside. He said the city called him Friday morning, but he hadn’t been served with any paperwork telling him to shut down.

Jenna Shaw, 25, a friend to Cooper, stopped by to show support as soon as the store opened Friday.

“I think it’s great,” she said. “Sex is part of everybody’s lives – it’s something we all do.”

She said her generation is more open to about talking about sex. She said that Cooper’s store helps provide information – and hands out free condoms – to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

“We’re the new generation coming in. (Older generations) need to understand that things are going to change.”

The shop gives women a safe place to talk to each other about sex. Community reaction has been supportive, she said.

She said that products offered can be bought in Grand Rapids and other larger towns. She said Cooper “hasn’t been explicit” about the products he offers and only allows those 18 and older inside the store.

Zeelanders had a lot of fun on Facebook. Many seemed OK with the business.

“Now we can Really Feel the Zeel,” one wrote. Another said of the once-dry town: “first bars now sex shops.”

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