Salina ? Some Kansas residents are beginning to worry about the proliferation of adult stores along Interstate 70.

Two such stores have opened along the interstate in recent months.

The Lion’s Den, an adult novelty and video store, opened in September in a renovated former Stucky’s restaurant three miles northwest of Abilene. A large black sign with yellow letters proclaiming Adult Superstore looks over the building.

Some 60 miles west, at the Wilson exit, another adult business that opened in July in a former service station, After Dark Video, has posted a highly visible orange sign along the highway featuring a large “XXX” and an arrow directing traffic.

In between the two stores, near the Brookville exit, stands I-70 Adult Novelty and Video, which has been in business for 12 years.

Some Abilene and Wilson residents fear the businesses cast a negative image on their communities, spur violence and crime, and stunt tourism by discouraging travelers from turning off at the interchange.

The manager of the After Dark Video store in Wilson, Terry Yarbrough, said the reason sexually-oriented businesses were opening was that sex sells.

“Always has, always will,” he said. “I-70 is the clincher to the business.”

Both Yarbrough and Riley Berry, who manages the I-70 Adult Novelty store, said the high markup on merchandise and the ability to make big profits makes the stores attractive to entrepreneurs who have money.

“If there wasn’t a need, we wouldn’t be in business,” Berry said.

Rural areas along interstates have become target zones nationally for sex shop entrepreneurs, legal experts say, because typically they lack zoning ordinances specifically outlawing adult businesses. Even when ordinances are subsequently passed, the businesses are many times grandfathered in.