US cuddle shop offers hugs and back rubs for the sad and lonely

A 'cuddle shop' has opened in the US offering customers platonic physical contact for a fee. The store in Portland, Oregon has been inundated with thousands of requests in its first week of opening.

Owner Samantha Hess describes herself as professional cuddler and charges $60 (£40) per hour for a one-on-one hugging session.

"When we experience touch, it gives us physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It lets us know that everything is alright," she explains on her website, Cuddle up to Me.

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Hess offers a range of physical contact as well as hugging, including hand holding, hair stroking and back rubbing, but stresses that none of it is sexual.

She says she came up with the concept during a particularly low period in her life. "I was at a place where I thought paying someone to hug me and not have ulterior motives sounded like a great idea," she told Oregon-based KPTV. "I decided why can't this be a thing that we can easily and safely reach for?"

Sessions are taped to ensure the safety of both parties and customers are required to sign a waiver, promise to be clean and courteous and keep their clothes on. Each person is able to decide the level of physical contact they require and can change their mind throughout the session.

"It is absolutely necessary for people, as social creatures, to receive touch in a platonic and safe way," Hess says, adding that it has helped with a variety of mental and physical health problems.

"Thousands of people have no-one to hold or comfort them. Samantha Hess provides a service that promises to ease loneliness, overcome depression and promote happiness," according to one satisfied customer.

However, police in Portland have warned that what happens in Hess' cuddle shop treads close to the state's legal definition of sexual contact, although they say they do not plan to take any action against her.

Image courtesy of Jo Marshall