Travelling alongside Catanna, Aika and Zach, Kristen Dickson’s upcoming trip to Vancouver will combine business and pleasure on a level never before seen in the city’s history.
Dickson is the owner and founder of House of Dolls, a sex doll rental service in Kamloops that opened in early December.
She’ll be in town this weekend for the annual Naughty But Nice Sex Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre to spread the gospel of the doll — courting prospective franchisees who may want a piece of the action and even renting out her dolls to a few frisky Vancouverites.
If there was ever an example to validate the saying “sex sells,” Dickson’s story is it. Her website crashed for several days after it went live late last year and Dickson now has “astronomically large” bandwidth to keep up with demand.
“The last few months have been crazy,” Dickson tells the Courier by phone.
Dickson’s business model goes something like this: customers comb through her website and choose from eight, life-like dolls — both male and female — which are then rented from her home-based business and taken to a remote location for a 24-hour period.
The dolls are transported in a carrier that resembles a guitar case.
The going rate for a day of doll time is $249, plus a $500 deposit, and Dickson’s clientele is quite literally all over the map. One fellow from California booked his ski trip near Kamloops specifically so he could spend time with one of Dickson’s dolls. Customers include seniors, couples, gay people, straight people, those with physical disabilities and others who are trying to figure out their sexuality.
Dickson says approximately 70 per cent of her customers are men, although she has not had any female clients come in by themselves to rent a doll.
“I’ve had young, physically attractive, normal looking people that you would think would have no need to find someone to entertain them,” Dickson said. “It’s curiosity.”
Made out of thermoplastic rubber, the dolls weigh between 60 and 90 pounds and are between five and six feet tall. Each one costs Dickson between $1,600 and $3,500 to purchase and, of course, they each have names: Marriah, Sadie, Zach and Chanel. Victoria is the newest addition to the group.
Indeed, whatever itch you may need scratched, Dickson has the doll or body type for you.
“You can get anything you want — whatever somebody’s desire is, you can get that,” she said.
Dickson uses antimicrobial soap to clean the dolls after each rental and has an internal camera just to be safe. Cleaning time usually last three hours a pop.
“You have to powder their skin with talcum powder to make sure there’s a soft, realistic feel. And their hair and makeup have to be touched up again,” she said.
- John Kurucz, Vancouver Courier
