Professional Cuddler Opens Shop in Portland, Gets 10,000 Customers

Katie Rodriguez | November 20, 2014
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One entrepreneur is offering Portland-area residents the snuggle of a lifetime.

For $60 an hour, Samantha Hess will provide customers all the hand-holding, hair-stroking and snuggling they so desire.

Or as she puts it, "the level of human contact that we want or need in order to be our optimal selves."

"I've gotten as many as 10,000 emails a week."

"The business has taken off," said Hess in an interview with local Fox station KPTV.  "I've gotten as many as 10,000 emails in a week."

Since her business has taken off, she's not only received an outpouring of emails but she's also said to work 12-hour days.

According to The Oregonian, customers who want to book a service with her should book weeks in advance.

Hess's storefont looks like any other clothing store on the outside, but on the inside there are queen-sized beds and cameras that will record every cuddling session to ensure clients' safety.

[A pitcure of one of the cuddling rooms.  Photo Credit: KPTV]

Hess started her business in 2013 at a low point in her life when she got the idea that someone should start a business where people can pay money to receive hugs.

“I was at a place where I thought paying someone to hug me and not have ulterior motives sounded like a great idea," Hess said. “I decided why can't this be a thing that we can easily and safely reach for?”

Before Hess opened her storefront business, she would meet clients at their homes and be on call for professional cuddling services.

Hess isn't alone her business, however.  Since her business took off, she's hired three other staff members who have to go through 40 hours worth of training to become professional cuddlers.

Hess claims her business is "non-sexual" in nature, but does encourage people to dress in pajamas.

Even though Hess's business seems like its thriving for its first week, a similar cuddling business in Wisconsin closed its doors just one month after it opened.

City officials in Madison claimed that the Snuggle House, which also charged $60 an hour for cuddling sessions, was merely a front for prostitution.

"No offense to men, but I don't know any man who wants to just snuggle," Jennifer Zilavy, Madison's assistant city attorney, told the Associated Press.

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