Beate Uhse AG

Beate Uhse AG is a German industry group with focus on selling adult entertainment in the form of sex toys, lingerie, clothing and pornography. It has over 1,500 employees and is active in 60 countries and has been noted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 1999. In 2004 Beate Uhse AG opened the first shop in Mae B., a chain of sex shops specifically aimed at female consumers. In 2004 the combined sales of the Beate Uhse industry group was €280 million, making it the largest distributor of adult-related entertainment and products in the world. Profits have dropped significantly in the year 2006 - 2007. [http://www.fmwf.com/newsarticle.php?id=1374&cat=5, Financial Mail Women's Forum, 26 August 2007] . A Beate Uhse employee Michael Vaughan [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2372027.stm ,BBC News, 30 October 2002] [http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,3604,822245,00.html ,The Guardian, 30 October 2002] and former Ann Summers director was pursuing a libel claim against Jacqueline Gold [ [http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx?issue=13002007091600000000001001&page=8&article=cc897791-4557-4506-8451-2dc4385745e6&key=Xp7m6GUcZW3qiK+3JssRFA=&feed=rss PressDisplay.com - Newspapers From Around the World ] ] .

History

It was founded by former German war-time pilot and sex pioneer Beate Uhse-Rotermund in 1946 and started out as a distibutor of pamphlets on family planning called "Schrift X" (roughly: "Writing X" or "Paper X") which was a major success. In 1962 the company opened the world's first sex shop in Flensburg. When pornography was finally made legal in West Germany in 1976, Beate Uhse was well-prepared with a widely known and respected brand name and an established mail order business.

References

External links

* [http://www.beateuhse.ag/index.html Beate Uhse AG official homepage]
* [http://www.pabo.com/ Beate Uhse adult products website]