I guess Fascinations, the new sex superstore scheduled to open Saturday, was inevitable. I mean, every product eventually will have it’s own superstore.

We’ve seen it with electronics. Home improvement products. Gourmet cooking devices. Bath products. Linens. Batteries. Light bulbs. Computers. Office supplies.

I guess I’m surprised it’s taken this long to get around to sex.

 And where else but on Academy Boulevard, for decades the pounding heartbeat of all things retail and super in Colorado Springs.

It will be the 17th store in the Chandler, Ariz.-based chain which started in 1981 with a single store in Tucson.

But I guess I am a bit surprised Fascinations chose to open in a strip mall (no pun intended) at Dublin Boulevard within about three miles of the headquarters of Focus on the Family, the Christian ministry, and New Life Church, the evangelical mega-church.

And I suppose I was a bit perplexed the company would choose Conservative Springs, given our reputation as the evangelical Christian Vatican City.

Granted, Fascinations is not a hard-core porn palace with peep shows and booths where who-knows-who does who-knows-what to whomever.

But it has a variety of products I wouldn’t mention in a family newspaper.

That’s why area resident Rita Dennis doesn’t want Fascinations in her neighborhood. She’s telling everyone, writing the City Council, calling people to see if it’s too late to stop Fascinations from opening in the vacant Hollywood Video storefront.

Fascinations spokesman, Micheal Ham, insists neighbors’ fears are unfounded. This is not some dingy, dirty smut parlor. In fact, it looks every bit like a modern retail store.

This is not a place where you park behind the place and sneak in the back door.

It’s a lot of lingerie, oils and lotions designed to attract women and couples and folks with disposable income.

Sure, Ham said, there are sex toys and devices you might not want your middle schooler stuffing in his backpack.

 But store policy prohibits anyone under 18 from even entering the place.

As for choosing Colorado Springs, Ham said it was a logical decision.

Fascination’s four stores in the Denver area attract so many people from our area that it made sense. This way, they won’t have to make the drive.

Maybe we’re not Conservatiave Springs after all.

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