SHACKED UP
Love
Shack owner John Cornetta continues to battle Johns Creek
over zoning
By Holly Clay
When speaking
to John Cornetta, the 43-year-old CEO of Cornetta
Enterprises, it is easy to become intoxicated by his sly
since of humor and nonchalant attitude. His arrogance is
refreshing, and you find yourself enamored by him; wanting
to sit for hours and listen to stories about how he parties
with celebrities, the business deals he’s closed, how he
met his wife, Irina, and of course, how he likes to “pop
bottles” of champagne and enjoy a good table dance every
now and then.
“I’m a playboy to this day,” he confesses, laughing.
He does not give off the feel of a man who is involved in
an ongoing legal battle with the newly incorporated city of
John’s Creek over the opening of his adult novelty store
The Love Shack.
Over the past few months, the case has become a jumble of
zoning and licensing issues with a not-so-discrete moral
backbone that has resulted in Cornetta reducing the amount
of adult materials that he has in his store and John’s
Creek being awarded nearly $20,000 for legal fees. However,
he claims that he has always been in 100 percent compliance
with the city and refers to them as “corrupt;” claiming
that “political pull” was used to illegally prolong him
being granted a business license.
Fulton County Commissioner Lynne Riley has a different
outlook on the verdict. “We are excited and pleased that
the judge ruled in favor of Johns Creek – and Fulton
County,” Riley said in an April 1 press release posted on
the John’s Creek website. “It is gratifying to know that
the county will not be subject to damages in a situation
where we clearly should not be held liable.”
With a lot of
money as well as his John’s Creek store location in
jeopardy, Cornetta, who likens himself to Larry Flint,
seems amazing relaxed about the situation, even though
press from the whole debacle has not made him very popular
with some groups of people.
“I’m careful of my security and safety,” he says casually.
“I get death threats and burial plot information in the
mail.”
His career choices have even blacklisted him when it comes
to charitable work. Although Cornetta was named “Samaritan
of the Year” three times by The Samaritan Relief Fund, he
has met opposition with other organizations. The Children’s
Healthcare Systems of Atlanta is now denying him and his
wife’s donations after three years of working with them. In
a letter from the Vice President of Marketing and Public
Relations for Children’s Health Care of Atlanta Klarita
Wildhaber that is posted on the Cornetta Enterprises
website, the organization can no longer except donations
from he and his wife or Cornetta Enterprises because they
believe that the mission of their organization as well as
their values clash with Cornetta’s business.
It is hard to believe that all of the uproar over the past
few years stems from the business ventures of a man who
considers himself a “good Catholic boy.”
The youngest of three sisters, Cornetta got into the adult
business seemingly innocently. After graduating high
school, Cornetta turned down numerous scholarships and an
opportunity to work for the C.I.A. to work with master
chefs before returning to Florida. There, he assisted his
father with his latest business venture, a tavern called
Sir Joe’s, where he got involved with holding lingerie
shows though a friend. The shows were such a hit at Sir
Joe’s that he was granted the opportunity to do them in
Tampa before moving to Atlanta to start the shows here.
Atlanta became the birth place of his Simply Irresistible
Lingerie Company. He also began his three
publications, Adult Store
Buyer,
TEEZE,
and Xcitement
Magazines in the city.
The upcoming years also gave birth to some shrewd business
deals that lead to his first Love Shack store location as
well as his smoke shop, Burn Smoke Shop.
With all of these businesses under his belt, Cornetta makes
it clear that he has no intention of walking away from the
John’s Creek battle any time soon, and the former
Republican only has to look above his mantle at documents
signed by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson to explain
why.
“They didn’t write these documents so that the government’s
empowered,” he preaches, “but so the people empower the
government. If the government can stop you from buying
something that you want, what next?”
In the end, Cornetta stands by his contention that I would
just like the public to understand who he is, outside of
the John’s Creek situation as well as outside of what he
does for a living.
“I’m not the anti-Christ, but I am not the Pope either,” he
explains. “For people who don’t know me well enough…I’d
give anything for a friend and family comes first. I would
never do anything to hurt a person or my
community.”