Marat Tagirov, the general producer of “Comedy Club Piter Style”, is a big fan of stand-up comedy as a genre. He ended up in a leadership role in this organization almost by accident — thanks to the fact that once he performed on the stage of Rossi’s Club, just for fun. After that, he met the “New Armenians,” the owners of the Comedy Club brand, and headed the branch in the Northern capital. Until recently, Marat Tagirov was better known as the owner of the chain of erotic stores “Pornomania”. “We play on all passions,” the businessman jokes.

“Everyone tells my grandma that I have a souvenir shop” – Marat Tagirov (03/01/2006).

If you blush just at the thought of a sex shop, but personal circumstances dictate that you urgently need to make a couple of intimate purchases, then your direct path is to an online store for the most adult customers. Marat Tagirov, the owner of the Pornomania sex shop chain, has taken care of all his customers. He has presented his products not only off-line, but also on-line.

At present, the number of sales through the online store Pornomania(dot)ru is practically equal to sales in brick-and-mortar stores.

– Marat, tell us, why did you decide to open a chain of sex shops rather than, for example, a chain of grocery stores?

– It so happened that I found myself at a crossroads in life, didn’t know what to do, and decided to put an end to salaried work. I wanted private entrepreneurship, and the topic of sex accessories had always been interesting to me. I sat down, calculated everything, and it turned out to be interesting. Of course, I could have found something more profitable, but hardly something more interesting.

– And when did this type of business become popular, if one can put it that way, in our city?

– If I’m not mistaken, sex shops have been operating since 1993. At the very beginning, entrance was paid. About 20 rubles, if calculated in today’s money. People went there just to look around. Like to a museum. No one imagined that they sold anything there other than dildos, but there was a whole wagon of all sorts of things. That’s why many people made good money just on the entrance fee.

– And you, what year did you open?

– In 2003.

– How did the name “Pornomania” come about? Why did you use a piglet with a gag as the logo?

– The name “Pornomania” was invented while I was standing in a traffic jam. There were other ideas as well, for example: “Fetishzone,” “1000 Little Things,” or something like “For Home and Family.” :) We wanted to move away from the name “Intim.” Because all the stores that existed before us were called “Intim.” And we wanted to stand out. We wanted to behave loudly and aggressively.

As for the piglet. We have been working for a long time with a very talented designer. When we asked him to develop a logo, he brought us this piglet with a gag. The logo is very memorable. A 100% hit for us.

– Your business is on the edge of propriety. Tell us, how do your family and loved ones feel about your work?

– For example, everyone tells my grandma that I have a souvenir shop. All the other relatives are aware of my work. I think they secretly take pride in me :). In any case, colleagues from my mom’s workplace sometimes stop by. No one experiences any anxiety. There were no taboos in upbringing. Formally speaking, this business is no different from selling bread rolls.

– But you don’t have a simple sex shop. There is a peep show…

– If we talk about the peep show, for many people in our city this is not a simple topic. Some don’t understand what it is and how it technically works. Again, every sex shop tries to find its own competitive advantage.

– That is, you offer a kind of comprehensive service. Haven’t you thought about adding an intimate haircut salon, since everything is already in one complex?

– Of course, we’ve thought about it. At the moment, again, there are no technical possibilities. We would like to create a pavilion where there would be not only an intimate salon, a peep show, and a shop, but also where a sexologist-psychologist would see clients. Everything in one place. And on the upper floors, create an erotic museum. So that people stop perceiving sex shops as something odd. After all, everyone eats meat with spices, and that’s normal. Sex shops sell spices too, just for intimate relationships.

– At what point did it become interesting for you to present your services on the internet? Why?

– It became interesting to present our services on the internet right away. It’s true that for a long time we couldn’t implement this technically, for about a year.

– And what technical reasons prevented you from immediately creating an online store?

– There was no confidence in the contractors who offered their services. That’s one. And secondly, we simply didn’t get around to it; we needed to put retail in order. And then the stars aligned: we found a worthy contractor who was able to convince us that they would build the online store properly and that it would work technically.

– By the way, your online store has a pleasant visual style. No piling up of gloomy tones…

– To be honest, initially we wanted to make a red-and-black background and put up a bunch of images. But we didn’t do that, because many people visit the online store from work. Therefore, we made the site look from afar like an informational portal. The images, of course, remained — you can’t get away from them in an online store. And besides, dark background tones somewhat irritate the eyes.

– Whose efforts went into developing Pornomania.ru?

– My friend, Vladimir Dorofeev.

– Does the online store help the core business?

– Yes, it does. This can be tracked by calls. Approximately the same number of people buy goods online and directly in the store.

Here it’s important to understand that we don’t sell books. Our products are something you want to touch before buying, compare with something else. On the internet, this is practically impossible. Therefore, most often people visit the site first and then come to the store. For us, the main thing is that the customer remains satisfied in any case.

Across Russia, the share of online sales in our business as a whole amounts to 10–15% of total volume. No more. There is fierce competition among online stores. Everyone sells the same assortment.

– And delivery is carried out like everyone else’s. One or two days?

– Initially, it was planned to deliver orders within the same day in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Now we offer customers to come to our store, where we set aside the product at a special online price — it’s lower. Or we deliver the goods the next day. Across Russia, courier deliveries take about a week.

– By the way, regarding the anonymity of delivered goods. How is this handled with you?

– There was such a joke: a car pulls up to the office, painted with dildos, and the courier hands over the package. Naturally, in real life it’s ordinary packaging; no one will guess what’s inside. The sender company has a neutral name, not from “Pornomania.” And the package is not wrapped in branded bags either. By the way, we often deliver orders to offices.

– How do you screen out teenagers, for example, who want to buy porn tapes online?

– By and large, we don’t sell what is prohibited for minors. I mean video products. On our site there are simply partner links. So this issue is handled somehow by our colleagues. In stores, young buyers are screened out by salespeople. We take this very seriously.

In general, we plan to open a self-service sex shop. Right now we have display cases everywhere. To look at some product, you need to call over a salesperson, thereby drawing the attention of the entire store. But this way, everything is on shelves; you can look at everything on your own. The only contact will be at the checkout, unless additional consultation is needed.

– Aren’t you afraid that theft will appear?

– Theft will happen, of course. But certain security measures will be taken for that. My dream is that people walk around the store with baskets. Like in a supermarket, and that the girls would shout: “Next register is open”… :)

– Can you judge by orders who the main buyer is: men or women?

– If you exclude tapes, it’s about 50/50. At the same time, women make conscious purchases. They have much less embarrassment. They clearly know what they want. Men usually take a long time choosing, then with their eyes closed point a finger somewhere. Men calmly buy only video tapes.

– And which product is the most in demand?

– There is constant demand for various stimulants, lubricants, massage oils. The sales leader is tapes. As for toys, those are dildos in the lower price category.

– And have people tried to return products?

– Yes. But even in legislation there is a clause that intimate goods are not subject to return. If there is an outright defect, we apologize and give bonuses.

– Are there seasonal preferences in purchases?

– As such, there are no seasonal preferences. In summer, people mainly buy erotic lingerie. Rather, we should talk about downturns in sales. For example, for some reason in spring. Perhaps people spend a lot on New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, March 8. And besides, in spring hormones are already playing without additional stimulation. From summer onward, sales become steady. Spikes occur only in October and at the end of December. At the beginning of January, sales are simply amazing.

– And do you have sales or special promotions, for example, support Zenit and buy white-and-blue condoms?

– As a joke, we suggested to Zenit that they make molds from their assets. But we did not receive approval. From time to time, we run discount promotions. The nearest one started the other day. Otherwise, we make small gifts with orders.

– Do you advertise?

– Yes, we have used advertising outdoors, on the radio, and in magazines. We hold themed parties in clubs. Of course, all advertising primarily carries an image-building and educational character. It does not give instant results. But it increases the overall number of people who come to us.

The nearest task is to create a trade union of workers in our business. This means there will be more opportunities for development. Educational work will be conducted on the topic of “what a sex shop is and why it is needed.”

Article “Aggressive Humor Earned Millions” (11/07/2006)

The humorous television show Comedy Club is creating its representative offices in the regions. The project caught the attention of Forbes magazine, which estimated the company’s revenues at $3.5 million. The St. Petersburg offshoot of the club sells jokes and makes money from parties.

In St. Petersburg, performances in the stand-up comedy genre first gathered an audience in 2005. Gatherings of the KVN crowd, reminiscent of American movie comedy shows, took place back then at Rossi’s Club and were not conceived as a commercial event.

At that time, they also had no relation whatsoever to the Comedy Club program known from the TNT channel. Parties at the nightclub continue to this day. Young jokesters still perform there, who, having gained experience, can become Comedy residents (residents are permanent participants in the club program. – Ed.).

Comedy Club Piter Style was created as a regional subdivision of “Comedy Club Russia,” a humorous television program and club of the same name. The project caught the attention of Forbes magazine, which estimated the company’s revenues at $3.5 million. According to some sources, this figure is even understated. About 20 regional Comedy branches already exist, and a TV version titled “Comedy Regions” is being prepared for release.

“The idea of stand-up comedy has become so popular that not only Moscow residents who are shown on television, but also little-known guys are in demand on the market,” says the general director of “Comedy Club Piter Style” Marat Tagirov. “We have reached break-even; the company’s turnover is now at least 1 million rubles per month. Before that, investments came from Moscow, from the founders.”

The general director himself is a big fan of stand-up comedy as a genre. He ended up in a leadership role in this structure almost by accident — thanks to the fact that once he performed on the stage of Rossi’s Club, just for fun. After that, he met the “New Armenians,” the owners of the Comedy Club brand, and headed the branch in the Northern capital. Until recently, Marat Tagirov was better known as the owner of the chain of erotic stores “Pornomania”. “We play on all passions,” the businessman jokes.

The style in St. Petersburg is maintained. Residents joke nonstop and actively mock the audience — the audience willingly exposes itself to the humorous artillery fire. As in Moscow, celebrities sit at VIP tables: inseparable DJs DJ Sweet and DJ Cosinus, actor Andrey Urgant, director Sergey Pryanichnikov. The main principle is fresh jokes every week.

The work is not that simple. Moscow stars have their joke texts written by a professional team; ours still manage on their own. The St. Petersburg branch has 10 permanent residents and about two dozen on the bench; every week auditions of new talents are held at the “Bukvoed” store. Among local celebrities, regular concertgoers are familiar with joke authors and performers — the duo “Bydlo” — Banderas and Smirnyaga, Anton Borisov, Evgeny Tyutelev. All are graduates of university KVN teams in the city. Like most residents across Russia, the creators and owners of Comedy Club are former members of the KVN team “New Armenians.”

“There is more freedom in Comedy, there is no rigid censorship; it’s like Shnurov or Verka Serdyuchka back in the day,” explains the popularity of the entertainment program Ilya Kirichok, editor of St. Petersburg KVN, a professional text author for KVN and Comedy. “KVN is more static, so probably Comedy attracts attention. Nevertheless, the creative staff of KVN and Comedy is one crowd; jokes for both are often written by the same authors.”

By the way, it is said that KVN perceives Comedy as serious competitors in the fight for sponsors, and that a humorist who has “lit up” with the “reds” is barred from entering KVN forever.

Comedy is an enterprise that is largely commercial. Performances by residents are aimed at people with solid incomes (not everyone can afford to give a thousand rubles for an evening of humor where they will also be insulted). The scheme is precisely calculated.

Like their American colleagues, Comedy artists play on the most basic human instincts, relying on the aggressiveness of humor. It was not they who invented the idea that spicy, dark, and other “forbidden” topics sell best.

“As a business idea, this is very good. But the genre itself is not new,” evaluates Comedy Igor Meltser, the owner of the once scandalously famous St. Petersburg club “Khali-Gali” (it was within the walls of his club that TV host Roman Trakhtenberg began his career). “The genre has always been successful. We did the same thing in our club: interactive shows with sharp remarks addressed to those sitting in the hall. But for us it was a way to attract people to the club and restaurant; we did not aim to make money directly from the show itself.”

Comedy had such a goal, and the owners achieved it. Even the television project, which at first was exclusively promotional, now brings advertising and sponsorship contracts — just look at how much advertising runs during the broadcast.

The presentation is thought out in such a way that both mass and elite audiences remain satisfied. For a more affluent audience, there is an expensive club product with an individual approach. For simpler viewers, a television version has been released — a mass product supplied with a sufficient amount of advertising.

“This is a purely commercial enterprise, like the Cherkizovsky Market, only funny!” jokes Vitaly Eroshenya, manager of “Comedy Club Piter Style”.

In general, he himself does not engage in jokes, although he is present at auditions of new residents at “Bukvoed.” His responsibilities include promotion, organizing parties, working with sponsors and corporate clients.

It is precisely corporate parties that represent commercial interest for Comedy artists, as for many other performers. At corporate events in St. Petersburg, former members of the St. Petersburg KVN team Mitya Khrustalev and Polina Sebagatulina, as well as popular artist Yury Galtsev, also earn money.

According to Marat Tagirov, 80% of the income from performances of “Comedy Club Piter Style” comes precisely from corporate parties. The rest comes from performances on the frigate “Blagodat” (they are held every Sunday). Currently, St. Petersburg residents, in addition to weekly events, work one or two parties per week.