Kinky Motion: Vibrator Vendor Hubba Hubba Moves to Central Square

When Anatavia M. Brown '98 and Abigail E. Baker '98 went shopping last Saturday afternoon, they quickly discovered that vibrators and edible underwear aren't as easy to come by in Harvard Square as they used to be.

A self-described regular customer of Hubba Hubba-a sex-apparel shop now located at 534 Mass. Ave.-Brown said she was surprised to find that the store, along with its collection of handcuffs, nipple clamps and body paints, had moved to the heart of Central Square.

"I like this location much better," Brown said, as she browsed through the shop's collection of vinyl and leather clothing. "It seems like there is a bigger variety here."

"I can just jump off the T and find everything I need," she added who purchased exactly what she had set out to find that afternoon-a $28 vibrator and $6 pair of edible underwear.

With three times the space of its previous site, at 932 Mass. Ave., Susan R. Phelps, Hubba Hubba's owner and founder, says the store's new location continues to attract customers, both new and old.

"We've been getting a lot of foot traffic-people who didn't know who we were before, when we were closer to Harvard Square-and people who have followed us for the last 20 years," Phelps says.

Still, Phelps has found it necessary to mount the neon Hubba Hubba sign in the main display window to attract potential customers who might walk past her business.

"There's a new store every 15 feet in Central Square, and we have to do our best to stand out," Phelps says.

"Central Square has become a much more civilized place to own a store, and Harvard Square has just become overdone," adds Phelps. "I don't think I would even want to have a store in the Square anymore."

Still, Phelps says there are those customers who miss the "funkiness" and cluttered nature of the old store.

"Our new store looks much more like a department store, which is a bit unusual when you consider the unconventional things we carry," Phelps says, pointing out how the merchandise is now easier to find and sort through.

"We can now really amplify our sexy lingerie, which is what people want to spice up a relationship," says Phelps, the picture of candor. "It's all about looking good when you're getting naked."

Hubba Hubba sales clerk Chris J. Stevens says that store employees did much of the remodeling themselves, tearing down the office cubicles that previously occupied the space.

Leather garter belts have now been given a place of honor over the cash register, clothing has been sorted by composition (leather, plastic or vinyl), and it's difficult to miss the containers of "sex grease" in the display case in the middle of the store.

"With better display space, we can carry a lot more merchandise," Stevens says.

And while Phelps says that some of the most popular items have traditionally been Hubba Hubba's $10 handcuffs and decorative whips, Stevens is quick to add clubbing attire to that list.

"People especially come here looking for clubbing outerwear," Stevens says. "We've had difficulty keeping jackets in stock now that it's the fall."

Even Brown, Baker's long-time friend and shopping companion, said she found something to her liking at the store that Stevens describes as "a fetish fashion and lifestyle store."

Saturday's trip to Hubba Hubba was Baker's first foray into the world of erotica, but she ended up buying a $20 silver shirt that she says she can wear when she goes clubbing.

"I saw some nice fish-net stockings that could work for Halloween," Baker added. "I'm really an innocent girl who was just browsing through the clothes. I was only along for the ride with my roommate-the sex fiend."