Virginia Beach asks Oceanfront stores to ditch lewd displays in tourism hot spot

Provocative and profanity-labeled merchandise has long been a feature of oceanfront stores in Virginia Beach, but that could soon be a thing of the past if local officials get their way.

The Virginia Beach City Council passed a resolution Tuesday strongly encouraging retailers on the popular Atlantic Avenue boardwalk to voluntarily remove what they call “indecent” or “vulgar” clothing from display in an effort to maintain the area’s image as family-friendly and welcoming to people of all ages.

The tourism hub is lined with hotels, restaurants, shops and entertainment spots, but the council says lewd messages sprawled across the backsides of storefront mannequins and tongue-in-cheek T-shirts are tarnishing the area’s wholesome image. For instance, in one display, shorts on lower-leg mannequins bear slogans such as “All you can eat” and “It ain’t going to spank itself.”

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“Along Atlantic Avenue, there has been a proliferation of indecent and/or vulgar T-shirts and displays in storefronts,” background text to the resolution reads. “The proliferation of such displays creates an unwelcoming environment for the very families to whom the city markets itself and the city’s residents.”

A resolution is not legally binding in the way an ordinance or statute is, so officials are calling on retailers to act in good faith and remove such material given the area’s heavy dependence on tourism. Virginia Beach welcomed 14.1 million visitors in 2023, generating $2.5 billion in spending, according to a tourism study by the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Because the standard for criminal enforcement — obscenity — is a difficult standard to reach, the City Council desires voluntary action by retailers,” the text reads.

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Councilman Worth Remick, who represents part of the Oceanfront and has fielded numerous complaints, said he is fed up with the displays.

“Enough is enough,” Remick told The Virginian-Pilot. “This is a calm, gentle, nice way to say this is not good for our brand, for our city.”

Businesses, mostly small, independent retailers, are being asked to remove or refrain from placing lewd or suggestive items on public-facing displays.

The move has divided locals and tourists alike, and retailers selling the merchandise say the items are major moneymakers.

“The new generation, they like this so much,” Adam Desouki, the store manager at Ocean 11 clothing and gift shop, told the outlet. He said the store’s shorts, priced between $25-$35 a piece, are top sellers in the business’s coveted summer months and they have no plans to stop displaying them.

One 18-year-old resident said he doesn’t have a problem with the clothing and believes the lewd phrases entice customers into stores. 

“I don’t think they’re that offensive,” Perry Clay told WAVY.com. They’re trying to spur business things like that. I haven’t been offended.”

The city passed a similar measure in 1992, discouraging lewd products in shop displays. 

Fox News Digital’s Erik Hoffman contributed to this report.