Profiraqtic? Specialty Shop Makes Condom-Buying Fun

NEW YORK - This being the age of specialization, it was just a matter of time before a store opened with the express purpose of selling condoms.

Condomania, believed to be the first store in the country that specializes in prophylactics, opened two months ago. And what began as a novel idea, even for the outlandish Greenwich Village, has quickly developed into a booming business.

Plans are under way to open stores in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, and the owners said they hoped to sell Condomania franchises throughout the country.

"We're doing about 40 percent more business in New York than we anticipated," said Adam Glickman, one of the co-owners. "We're making a lot of money."

The store is on a quiet, tree-lined street a few blocks from the heart of the Village, where tourists and neighborhood residents are as likely to be out and about at 2 a.m. as they are at 2 p.m.

For many of Condomania's customers, having the specialty shop here means they no longer have to be embarrassed when buying condoms.

In addition to the usual brands of prophylactics found at drugstores, Condomania sells specialty condoms (such as the Saddam Condom, billed as "one profIRAQtic" designed to "prevent the spread of naked aggression") and a few condom-related items, including humorous greeting cards and T-shirts that promote safe sex.

"We tried to make it a real comfortable environment," said Kyrsha Landolphi, the store's manager.

Glickman said he and Davin Wedel, who sold condoms door-to-door while they were classmates at Tufts University in the late 1980s, came up with the proposal. But Landolphi said it was the brainchild of her mother, Suzi Landolphi, who lectures nationally on the subject of safe sex.

Glickman and Suzi Landolphi concentrate their efforts on setting up Condomania stores while Wedel continues to operate Custom Condoms, the Boston-based specialty line that he and Glickman established after graduation.

"We're trying to make it easy for people to buy condoms. In a way, we're bringing it out of the closet. We're not catering to homosexuals; we're not catering to heterosexuals; we're catering to everyone - all people."