How identical twins cornered the market on pleasure

Bozeman may have become synonymous with flippant Silicon Valley transplants and wannabe cowboys, but these two local employers have never been more serious about their business.

    The owners of the stores, Billy and Robert McWilliams, are identical twin brothers and business owners for their respective businesses. Billy owns Erotique and Robert owns Granny’s Donuts. Hailing from Abilene, Texas, the brothers moved up to Bozeman for school. 

  When Robert decided that school wasn’t a good fit for him, he decided to start his own business. “I thought Bozeman needed a donut shop,” he said. “Serving people is my passion. Donuts are kinda the vehicle for it, and I like it, but I really enjoy being kind and respectful to people,” Robert said.

   Bozeman residents and those past the city limits know the shop for its great donuts and hospitality. Many customers know Robert by name and even come into the shop to speak with him. “I think it’s important to push kindness hard. Be aggressively kind, not just merely kind, and push it hard, because [this] is not a happy time, for lots of reasons,” Robert said.

   On the north side of town, Robert’s identical twin brother Billy has invested in providing a different sort of pleasure. 

   The local adult novelty and sex toy store Erotique has been under Billy’s management. He worked there first as a cashier, then a manager and finally as the owner for the last 40 years.

   Originally, Erotique catered to men and the merchandise was mostly magazines and videos. Over the years, business interests and customers changed and the store began to cater to a more diverse gender and sexuality environment. “This used to be a male-centric sex store, which would be DVDs and videos, magazines, visuals and now it’s women and couple centric,” Billy said.

   More so than just products, Billy sees the store as a way to foster communication and expose people to diverse tastes. He said customers will often come into the store nervous and leave feeling normal. “They come in the store and they say, you might think I’m weird. And I think to myself, gah, please be weird,” Billy said.   

   In fact, the change of Erotique mirrors wider society’s evolution to becoming more tolerant and accepting. As Bozeman has become more diverse, so has the store’s customer base. After the advent of the HIV/AIDS crisis, “I think the world grew up,” Billy said. Nowadays, the customers tend to be more couples and women, and the store prides itself in offering a safe space for people of all genders and sexualities. 

   Ultimately, Billy wants people to feel comfortable in who they are. “I think most people are sexually normal,” he said. “And they feel guilty.” 

   Both the owners of Granny’s Donuts and Erotique don’t see their business as being in products, rather, they both say they deal in pleasure. “We just give pleasure, that’s all,” Billy said. “And the funny thing about it is people feel guilty about both.”