Starkville has seen an end to the sale of adult materials. Bookstores and gas stations alike have rid their shelves of all adult materials in a trend that is not unusual for the area.The city of Starkville currently operates under an “Adult Entertainment Ordinance,” which makes the development of any sexually oriented business illegal within city limits. The ordinance outlaws strip clubs and adult bookstores or video stores. It does not specifically regulate the sale of adult materials in gas stations or standard bookstores.
“I am not aware of any ordinance that would regulate the sale of those materials,” Starkville Alderman Matt Cox said. “It is the business owner’s choice. The city is not involved in that one way or another.”
The sale of adult materials in Starkville appears to be on the downturn, as virtually no adult materials are being sold at any location within Starkville city limits.
In the past, two B-Quick stations in Starkville sold adult magazines, but they have recently pulled all adult materials off of the shelves.
Rex Sharp, who is in charge of vending for the B-Quicks in the area, said that the adult sections were pulled strictly as a business decision. Sharp does not cite community pressure as a reason for the withdrawal of adult materials.
Similarly, Barnes & Noble and both Campus Book Mart stores in Starkville do not have an adult section. Movie Gallery once had an adult video section in the store, but it was removed in 2005.
A Campus Book Mart employee can remember when the store once sold adult magazines.
“They weren’t very popular; people only looked at them instead of buying,” the employee said.
The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, does not view community pressure as the reason the magazines were taken off of the shelves.
“I do not think pressure from the community is the reason we got rid of them; they just didn’t sell very well,” she said.
Junior business major Ryan Esrael is not surprised that adult magazines are scarce in Starkville.
“It’s not something people buy very frequently. The strip club went out of business, and now magazines are disappearing. Those kinds of businesses just don’t seem to do well in a place like Starkville,” he said.
De Werks La Rey Gentleman’s Club on U.S. Highway 45, once the nearest strip club to Starkville, closed in 2006 after six years of business.
Created in 2001, the Adult Entertainment Ordinance was implemented in order to shield area homeowners and businesses from the potentially harmful effects of adult-oriented businesses.