Press Releases

Ambiance Celebrates 30 Years of Passionate Success

CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 14, 2011): Ambiance, The Store for Lovers is celebrating its thirtieth year in business. The Cleveland-based retail chain currently has seven locations in Northeast Ohio and an eCommerce site, but it humbly began as a gathering of a dozen women in a home in Berea.

With $300 and experience from working in a family business, founder and Vice President Henry Keiluhn started Ambiance in 1981 as a home party venture. A year later, over-the-counter stock trader and model Jennifer Downey joined him, eventually becoming president and company spokesperson in 1998.

“It’s been an amazing thirty years,” states Downey. “We are now seeing a second generation of customers come in, saying that Ambiance is the reason they were conceived. We have certainly done our part to help combat the population decline in Northeast Ohio,” she laughs.

“We have always recognized the importance of marriage and family, and strongly feel that using intimate lingerie and marital aids to ignite passion in a relationship should be applauded. We believe that couples should get as much joy, fulfillment and emotional rewards from the intimate side of their long-term relationship as any other part,” she says. “This approach has helped us become a vital part of the communities we’re in. From the national hotel chains we partner with, offering discounts on romantic getaways, to the PTAs, churches and charitable organizations who ask us for help, it’s rewarding to have the opportunity to give back and be so well-respected.”

The journey hasn’t always been easy, however. “Ambiance promotes sex as a healthy part of relationships and thus, offers marital aids,” states Downey. “There are still places in the US where it is illegal to sell sex toys, and we encounter prejudice because we sell them. The funny thing is, Ambiance only started carrying what we call ‘romantic technology’ because our female customers asked us to. They wanted a respectable place to buy intimate items, so we gave it to them. We will continue to fight to give couples a safe, reputable place to do so.”

Ambiance, the Store for Lovers has been a staple in Northeast Ohio for 30 years, and is the number one destination for women and couples looking to enhance the passion in their relationships. An upscale lingerie store and a romantic gift boutique, Ambiance provides a fun retail shopping experience aided by a sensitive, caring and well-trained staff of Certified Romance Consultants. Based in Cleveland, Ambiance operates seven retail stores in Northeast Ohio and an eCommerce site at StoreforLovers.com. For more information, visit Ambiance.com.

Sexy Fidelity: Ambiance Makes Marriage Hot

CLEVELAND, Ohio (February 16, 2011): When you see the image of a woman’s raised legs, clad in stiletto heels and fishnet stockings, on the cover of a magazine, one wouldn’t assume the title of the publication to be Bloomberg’s Business Week. But this week’s cover, dateline February 14th, includes that image with the headline: “The Infidelity Economy.” The featured story profiles Noel Biderman, CEO of Ashley Madison, the online “dating” service for married people looking to cheat on their spouses. The headline certainly caught the eye of Jennifer Downey, president of Ambiance, the Store for Lovers, whose chain promotes the idea that ‘Monogamy shouldn’t be monotonous.’

Simply put, Ashley Madison sells extramarital sex, and does so quite successfully with a current membership of 8.5 million. With that kind of popularity, you’d think that there are a lot of unfulfilled lovers out there. Downey would agree.

“The sex drive is a powerful motivator, and when there’s no sexual fulfillment, people get frustrated,” she concurs. “The difference is, Ashley Madison became successful by helping people cheat. Ambiance is a success because we help couples discover that the lover they’ve always fantasized about is the one they’re sleeping with every night.”

Rather than promote excitement outside of marriage, Ambiance helps to create the same titillation and novelty Ashley Madison boasts, but at home. The Ashley Madison tagline: “Life is Short. Have an Affair.” Downey’s version? “Have an affair... with your spouse.”

“When the person who usually sleeps next to you in flannel pajama pants comes to bed in fishnets, garters and a barely-there teddy, the whole dynamic changes. It’s the same when your lover pulls a new sex toy out of the nightstand drawer. That action alone tells you tonight is going to be different, tonight we’re going beyond our routine,” Downey says.

Even daytime self-help shows like Dr. Oz and Oprah are promoting sex aids like vibrators and position-enhancing furniture to couples. “These shows empower couples, and especially women, to solve their sexual problems. Having a mainstream celebrity endorse vibrators as a means to greater sexual satisfaction opens the floodgates. Women are demanding the high tech devices promoted on these shows because it’s ok to talk about these things openly now.”

She concludes, “Why screw around when you can get the same excitement at home, with the person you’ve committed to? When we say ‘Monogamy shouldn’t be monotonous,’ we’re saying that if you’re not clutching the sheets and screaming out in ecstasy when you’re having sex with your long term partner, you don’t need to cheat. You just need more Ambiance.”

Ambiance, The Store For Lovers, Announces Expansion into the Greater Columbus Market

CLEVELAND, Ohio (July 7, 2010): Romantic retailer Ambiance, The Store for Lovers, announced today that it is launching an expansion into the Greater Columbus Metropolitan area. This expansion builds upon nearly 30 years of successful operations in Northern Ohio and will allow the company to reach a new market segment.

“We see a great opportunity in Columbus,” stated Ambiance president Jennifer Downey. “We’ve wanted to open stores there for years, and the conditions are finally right to pursue an expansion. In spite of the economy, we see everyday how couples are still willing to invest in improving their relationships. So, it’s time that couples in Columbus have the same opportunities for passion and fulfilling relationships that their neighbors to the north have been enjoying for 30 years!”

As part of this expansion, Ambiance announced that it Retained Realty Corporation of America to assist it with its real estate needs.

“We are honored to have been awarded this assignment,” said Tony Viola, President of Realty Corporation of America. “We are looking forward to working with property owners, developers and real estate agents throughout Central Ohio as we identify excellent locations for Ambiance. It is a pleasure to work with such a successful operation with an outstanding track record of success.”

Charles Andrews of USA Management, a 20-year Ambiance landlord, knows the company will do well in Columbus. “They are an upscale, tasteful store that easily compliments other retailers,” he said. “From a landlord perspective, their history in Cleveland is excellent.”

Ambiance, the Store for Lovers is the most popular destination for couples looking to enhance the passion in their relationships in Northeast Ohio. An upscale lingerie store and a romantic gift boutique, Ambiance provides a fun retail shopping experience aided by a sensitive, caring and well-trained staff of Certified Romance Consultants. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the Ambiance operates seven retail stores in Northeast Ohio. For more information, visit Ambiance.com.

Ambiance Wins Second World Class Customer Service Award

Fourth-Time Honoree Named “Best Training Systems”

CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 14, 2010): For the fourth time, Smart Business honored Ambiance, the Store for Lovers for its customer service, and for the second year in a row, awarded Ambiance one of the eleven top honors in customer service excellence. Ambiance is one of only four companies, and the only retailer, to be honored all four years the awards have been handed out. This year, Smart Business named Ambiance “Best Training Systems”.

Smart Business held its annual World Class Customer Service Awards on Tuesday, June 8th. The magazine recognizes businesses that excel at raising the bar for customer service at this prestigious event, held at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. Award winners for 2010 included Cox Communications, Huntington National Bank, Inc., and Ambiance, the Store for Lovers.

“The key to world-class customer service is the ability of a company to train its employees to provide consistent, client-focused service,” stated Dustin Klein, editor of Smart Business. “Without strong training systems in place, it’s impossible to ensure top-notch service every time.”

“Ambiance takes training very seriously, and its systems for training are the real key to its success,” Klein continued. “The concept of world-class customer service is introduced to new associates immediately upon hire and after a rigorous training process, they are expected to deliver the company’s 13 mandatory service standards and embrace its “Think Like a Customer” mantra.”

“We are so thrilled to be recognized for our exceptional customer service training systems,” beamed Ambiance President Jennifer Downey. “We believe that every couple is entitled to a fulfilling love life, and we develop our training programs to ensure the most attentive, compassionate service to every customer who walks in our door,” she stated. “As the president of this company, I want to tell you how proud I am of our staff at the stores and Support Center. They are the reason that Ambiance continues to be recognized for its World Class Customer Service.”

Ambiance, the Store for Lovers, is a chain of romantic boutiques with locations in Northeast Ohio. For location information or to shop online, visit Ambiance.com.

Ambiance Collects Record Donation for American Heart Association in February!

CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 3, 2010): Every February, the American Heart Association “Have a Heart” campaign launches at Cleveland-area retailers. It is a large part of the Association’s fund raising campaigns and one in which local chain Ambiance, the Store for Lovers, participates enthusiastically.

Ambiance’s Romance Consultants collected $5,793 in donations this February, a 21% increase over 2009. This goal is almost half of the Northeast Ohio goal for the American Heart Association’s Ohio Affiliate, which hopes to raise $13,000 in the month of February.

The campaign works like this: Ambiance Romance Consultants ask each of their customers to donate one dollar or more to the American Heart Association. This contribution “buys” a heart on which the customer can write his or her name or a declaration of love to a Valentine. Come February 28th, Ambiance stores display a sea of red hearts.

These efforts have really paid off. Since 2003, Ambiance has donated more than $26,000 to the American Heart Association. In February of 2010 alone, 43% of all customers who shopped at Ambiance donated to the cause.

John Meiners, Executive Vice President of the Ohio Valley Affiliate of the American Heart Association is grateful for Ambiance’s support. “It is because of companies like Ambiance that the American Heart Association is able to continue its successes in our mutual fight against cardiovascular disease. Their donations will help us face this enemy's devastating effects in our community, nationwide and throughout the world.”

Ambiance, the Store for Lovers is the only destination for couples looking to enhance the passion in their relationships in Northeast Ohio. An upscale lingerie store and a romantic gift boutique, Ambiance provides a fun retail shopping experience aided by a sensitive, caring and well-trained staff of Certified Romance Consultants. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the retailer operates seven stores in Northeast Ohio and offers online shopping at StoreForLovers.com.