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about us

our co-operative

Come As You Are is proudly worker owned and operated by Sarah Forbes-Roberts, Annanda DeSilva and Jack Lamon through our co-operative CAYA Co-operative Ltd.

We are proud to be operating the store in this democratic way, as well as having the distinction of being the only co-operatively run sex shop in the world!

Co-operatives are based on values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. As a co-operative we believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others. This fits well with our mandate as a sex-positive sex store serving a wide range of clientele.  To learn more about co-operatives, check out the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation website or view The Seven Principles of Co-operatives.

who we are

Annanda DeSilva

Annanda has been happily working at Come As You Are since 2009, when she arrived in a flurry of colour and set her sights on decorating and bedazzling everything. Thus, in addition to spending tons of time on the store floor with co-workers and customers, she is now our Visual Merchandiser, Window Display Designer, Art Show Co-Ordinator and the Organizer for the whimsical and sexy Erotic Arts and Craft Fair! For some balance and to put the other side of her brain to good use, Annanda has recently taken over our Accounts Payable department, where she gets to play with numbers like she used to do at Math Camp.

One of the many things she finds fulfilling about her work at Come As You Are is the opportunity to create an accessible and comfortable environment to talk about and explore aspects of sexuality that are often silenced in the larger world.

In the event that she is not here at the store, Annanda loves to cook, eat, sew, crochet, hang out with cats and occasionally perform really campy burlesque dance numbers around Toronto. She can be reached at annanda@comeasyouare.com.

Sarah Forbes-Roberts

Sarah has now been at Come As You Are since 1998 in many capacities such as general manager, writer & copy editor, buyer, and event organizer. She spent a year in Montrèal (her favorite city in Canada), survived the cold winter, and managed the well-loved but short-lived Montrèal store. Apart from a hectic life as co-owner (honestly, we practically live at the store and have little spare time), she loves skiing, hiking, reading sci-fi novels (especially the ones that involve cyberpunk and sex of course!) and watching Coronation Street. She believes sex is healthy and important; further she is proud of her role in creating a world where sexual experience is valued and wholesome (but not too wholesome!). Sarah thinks the best part of working at the store is meeting all our wonderful customers.  Sarah is currently our workshop coordinator and wholesale manager.  Sarah can be reached at sarah@comeasyouare.com

Jack came to us in 2001 with a passion for computers, Coronation Street, soldering irons, philosophy, percussion and sex. Jack has transformed our mail-order department and has gone on to spend many glorious hours working on our inventory system, intranet and web site. Jack's current duties include toy buying, bookkeeping, working on our web site, changing light bulbs, light carpentry and finding good homes for all of those dildos.  Jack is currently managing our website and as well as doing toy buying and bookkeeping.  Jack can be reached at Jack@comeasyouare.com

past worker-owners

Cory is happiest when surrounded by sex toys. He credits this environmental need to being raised in the seventies (by sex therapists, god help him). He has been working in sex stores for over fifteen years, while completing graduate work in psychology and doing sex research. He has presented on the topic of sex toys, sexual communication, and sexuality and disability at workshops and conferences both in Canada and the U.S. Cory is an AASECT certified sex educator, co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability and is currently the sexuality guide at About.com. Cory was a founding member and left the co-operative in 2010 and we miss him greatly.