The Last Place on Earth: "Everything we carry offends someone"
By JULIA DAVIS
DCN Reporter
Two fourteen year old girls walk in and immediately start giggling when they enter The Last Place On Earth and see the selection of posters. Some depict two women making out, while others are solely devoted to marijuana and its paraphernalia. The girls point and whisper while they slowly make their way deeper into the shop.
The Last Place on Earth, located on Superior Street in the heart of the business district of Duluth, is a tobacco shop that sells novelty items. It has been around for 25 years since it opened in 1982. The shop itself is a place you would expect to create controversy. It sells such tobacco products as bongs, hookahs, rolling papers and pipes. In addition to tobacco products, there is a separate section devoted to novelty items including pornographic movies, magazines and sex toys.
“Back when we opened there were more stores like this one, but they’ve all lost business and one by one they closed,� said Jim Carlson, owner and manager of the Last Place on Earth.
The store has attracted attention for its product variety since it has opened, but the products that cause the controversy have changed.
“When it first opened nobody really cared about the pipes or bongs, but they cared about all of the adult stuff. Now everyone gets really offended by the pipes. Back around the seventies, the pipes were no big deal,� said Carlson.
The two girls are replaced by a middle-aged man with tattered clothes and an unwashed look about him. He comes in, buys a pack of cigarettes, and shuffles happily out the door.
“We have one dollar packs of cigarettes, so on the first of the month we have locals and people from the casino come in all the time to stock up on them,� said Cory Anderson, the clerk on duty.
The Last Place on Earth sells a lot of merchandise that can’t be found in bigger chain stores.
“We are able to sell things for cheaper because we sell things that the big stores like Target and Wal-Mart won’t sell,� said Carlson. “Everything we carry offends someone.�
He then tells a story about a former employee he had who was gay. At that time he carried a T-Shirt that bore a saying that was offensive to gay people. When it began to bother his employee, he wouldn’t take it down.
“The company that made that shirt is out of business so I don’t have it anymore, but if I gave in to everyone who was offended by something I wouldn’t have anything to sell,� said Carlson.
Comments
Only 25 years old? Hm... I'd have sworn that place was open in the late 70s -- back when Jon E. used to work there. No?
Posted by: Rebecca | November 21, 2007 12:40 AM