The Virginia Beach City Council is trying to ban shops along the famous boardwalk from displaying clothing with raunchy slogans to ‘clean up’ the family-friendly resort.
The southeastern Virginia coastal city has long attracted families for its abundance of activities for all ages and stunning shores.
But its three-mile oceanfront boardwalk has always been the star of the show for its games, restaurants and stores.
And many of those stores have caught the eye of visitors for their attention-grabbing merchandise, which local officials say is wildly inappropriate.
Some clothing and gift shops sell shorts with innuendos on the back, with some pairs reading ‘all you can eat,’ ‘it ain’t gonna spank itself’ and ‘roll your weed on it’ with marijuana leaves.
Other items include profanity, such as shirts reading ‘I’m not always a d*ck’ and ‘f*ck around and find out.’ Another top reads, ‘I [heart] boobs.’
‘The new generation, they like this so much,’ Adam Desouki, the manager of Ocean 11 Clothing and Gift Shop, told The Virginian-Pilot.
Desouki said vulgar apparel flies off the shelves and guests, especially young adults, cannot get enough of the merchandise.
The Virginia Beach City Council is trying to ban shops along the famous boardwalk from displaying clothing with raunchy slogans to ‘clean up’ the family-friendly resort
The southeastern Virginia coastal city has long attracted families for its abundance of activities for all ages and stunning shores
But local officials believe these novelty clothing items have no place lining the boardwalk.
‘Enough is enough,’ Councilman Worth Remick, who represents a portion of the Oceanfront Boardwalk community, told The Virginian-Pilot.
He said many constituents are less than thrilled with the non-PG sentiments printed on the clothes.
‘This is a calm, gentle, nice way to say this is not good for our brand, for our city.’
On Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously voted to approve a resolution to request Oceanfront stores remove ‘indecent’ items from their displays.
But the resolution is voluntary, as criminal enforcement for obscenity is a difficult threshold to meet.
So, the members of the council are asking for retailers to abide by the resolution for the community’s greater good.
The resolution also asked for the Atlantic Avenue Association and the Resort Advisory Commission to back their stance and try to ‘inspire Oceanfront retailers to act in accordance with such environment.’
The City Council and many visitors have found the clothing items offensive
‘We’re not telling store owners not to carry the shirts,’ president of the Atlantic Avenue Association Deepak Nachnani told WHRO.
‘We’re just telling them to not put them in the store windows or on the mannequins at the front of the store.’
Regardless, this ‘peer pressure’ approach being taken by the City Council is not sitting well with many of the boardwalk businesses.
‘The owners need to make money in a certain period of time, and in the winter nobody’s here,’ Desouki said about Ocean 11.
He believes that taking the controversial clothing off display would cause sales to plummet, as those shirts and shorts are a main attraction to the shop.
But other businesses are willing to comply, as their management understands where the city is coming from on the matter.
Avinash Basnet, owner of The T-Shirt Factory at the resort, told WHRO he would be willing to participate in this boardwalk clean-up, but it must be a unified effort.
‘I’m willing to commit to that, but it has to be for everybody,’ he told the outlet.
Desouki said vulgar apparel flies off the shelves and guests, especially young adults, cannot get enough of the merchandise
‘Enough is enough,’ Councilman Worth Remick (pictured), who represents a portion of the Oceanfront Boardwalk community, said
Virginia Beach visitors have seemingly sided with the council, as the swear words and provocative language are far from family-friendly.
‘They’re just shoving this in kids’ faces,’ Kecia Magnus, of New Jersey, told WHRO.
Angie Whitlock, 68, of Georgia, was also not fond of the clothing.
‘I think it’s awful. This is a family-friendly place, and as a community we need to protect our children. Maybe move that stuff to the back for the bachelors,’ she told The Virginian-Pilot.
