Love Shack owner John Cornetta continues to battle Johns Creek over zoning
Impeached Magazine
June, 2008
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.”