Easter Treats

Jennifer at SheKnows takes notice of our Sizzling Body Candy. We might need to get ourselves one of those cloned willies! Wheee!

Closed: NYC - The Reviews Start to Come In

Well if you've been paying attention you might have noticed that we shut down our store in NYC. It was a really hard decision. After all the store has been there for 16 years. We were a vital part of our neighborhood there. Our employees are valued members of the Condomania family and we tried without success to keep the store open but at the end we only had one rational choice and that was to shut the place down. The neighborhood is quickly gentrifying and the costs to keep the store open with our rising rent would have simply made it impossible to make any money or continue with our mission.

All of us here in Condomania Los Angeles, where we shut down our retail store in 2001 to focus on the internet, know how hard this has been for both our long time clients in NYC and our team in NYC.

Apparently a few blogs around NYC have taken notice of our store's passing. Back in October ShopHound noticed the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood and asked how long Condomania would be able to stay afloat. Then a few days ago ShopHound discovered we had in fact shut down our operations. No need to gloat ShopHound. But we know you do it from a place of affection when you write: [Condomania] had an audaciously novel concept with a genuinely admirable social purpose. Everybody should have a shame-free, user-friendly place to buy condoms, lube and various other accessories you might need in the bedroom. Thanks for the kind words!

UPDATE: It appears that TowelRoad: A Blog With Homosexual Tendencies, Racked - with photo confirmation of our empty store, Gawker - that's all you can do remainders?, Notes On Napkins, & Manhattan Chowder have all posted notes on our demise. So sad.

Penis Envy

"Penis Envy" is a funny little commercial produced for Condomania by Stephen Krauss back in 1996. We still get a kick out of it. Hope you like!

The Fallout

Adam assuages the fears of the Denver Post over the recent Consumer Reports coverage of condoms.

Take Five

Adam was featured in the Village Voice's Take Five. Look at that cutey! (No not Adam, the young lady on his arm)

Trojan and LifeStyles and Durex, oh My!

Now is the time to pull those rubbers out of a back pocket and wave them with pride. We do hope Annie Linder knows you should never keep your condoms in your back pocket. Between your body heat and the sweat, well, it's just not a good thing. Condoms should never be stored in your pocket or wallet. Cool article though! They even mention us here at Condomania and interview Adam for his thoughts on National Condom Week.

Jenna Jameson Tops Booklist

Porn star Jenna Jameson has landed on the best-sellers' list with tales and pictures that once would have earned the autobiography a plain brown wrapper.

Don't worry, if you buy it from us, we'll still ship it to you in a plain brown package.

Safer-Sex May Become Required By Law

As published in the New York Times, Paul Koretz, a Democrat who represents West Hollywood, has warned the adult-film industry that unless actors wear condoms while they work he will write a law requiring it.

Female Condoms vs. Male Condoms — Not a Direct Comparison

The Cleveland Plain Dealer prints an article comparing the prices on products aimed at women versus products aimed at men. Peculiarly the article is entitled "The Price of Beauty" and yet they make mention of condoms. Here at Condomania are still trying to figure out how beauty relates to condoms, but no matter. The article does mention condoms:

Prices are much lower for condoms. A month's supply (OK, so we're being generous) of the 36-economy pack of Trojans costs $22.99 at CVS. In a more direct comparison, the FC Female Condom is $26.95 for nine at condomania.com.

The problem here is that this is not a direct comparison. Female condoms are a completely different device than a male condom. The market size of the female condom is insignificant in comparison to the male condom. Subsequently the manufacturing costs of the female condoms are magnitudes higher than that of the male condom. If there was a rough parity between the market size of the two different devices then perhaps it would be appropriate to say there is a direct comparison but, at least for now, such a statement flies in the face of reality.

Playboy Advisor

So Condomania and our TheyFit condoms were mentioned in Playboy Advisor this month. Actually last week we were featured in the online version as well but the content has changed since then. If you are a print reader of the magazine be sure to check the advisor in the March edition to learn more about our fastest selling condoms ever!

Stop VD after V-Day

"When young Malcolm X worked shining shoes at a Boston dance hall in 1940, he supplemented his income by selling condoms."

Benny Hill's dad was also a condom salesman. No doubt this is a good party question: what do Malcolm X and Benny Hill have in common?

Go read the article. It has more fun facts to know and best of all mentions our new TheyFit condoms!

It turns out we are popping up in a lot of media these days!

American Standardized Penis Scale

This editorial from the Opinion section of Indiana Daily Student really got us going here at Condomania central. Read on:

Sneak Preview of December's Men's Health

It's not on the newsstand yet but a little bird just laid a nice quote from the upcoming article about TheyFit condoms on my desk. Here it is:

One Is Bound to Fit You

From Pulse24 - Toronto's News

An Internet company has a plan to make sure they have your size covered. They've called Condomania, and they're offering a new line of condoms in 55 sizes. But what's so special about these rubbers? According to the company's Adam Glickman, the "TheyFit" brand condoms are more comfortable and less likely to tear than other styles. And if you're not sure what size you'll need, just see Condomania's online special measuring tool. If you think you may not measure up, don't cry. The measurements are defined by random number and letter combinations. Meaning you won't get a warning on your monitor saying something like, "Sorry, we don't make 'em that small."

TheyFit Show Up in the Slovak Republic

We're on the OrangePortal!

Retailer to Release Line of Condoms in 55 Sizes

From the Advocate

Retailer to release line of condoms in 55 sizes
Billed as a better way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and reduce unwanted pregnancies, an Internet retailer has begun offering a line of condoms that come in 55 different sizes. Los Angeles-based Condomania says the "TheyFit" condoms offer a more comfortable fit than other brands. A better fit should lead to fewer tears and slippage problems and less anxiety, said the company's CEO Adam Glickman. But any correlation between the fit of a condom and how well it protects has not been clearly defined, researchers point out. "We don't have the science to support a need for 55 sizes," said Richard Crosby, an assistant professor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Most brand-name condoms, which typically are available in only three or four size variations, can be found in convenience stores or vending machines. But stocking so many sizes will likely keep the "TheyFit" line available only through the Internet or specialty shops, Glickman said.

Radio Interview

Hey I just got interviewed for a radio station in the Denver area. I love to do radio interviews. Especially when the topic is condoms! People are always so friendly and laugh the whole time when they interview someone about the topic of condoms.

Hey We Do PR Too!

Does Size Really Matter? Condomania Answers Age-Old Question With the Introduction of a Revolutionary New Line of TheyFit Condoms That Come in 55 Different Sizes

Some of those among us think this blog is only about our new condom line. Not true, not true. It just seems that way right now. Come back tommorrow and we'll get back to our regular programming.

TheyFit Condoms Get First Press

"Retailer betting condom line available in 55 sizes will be a hit" writes Alex Viega, an Associated Press Business Writer. He interviews Adam and one of our customers in the New York store.

I don't really understand the quote from the doctor Richard Crosby of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. "We don't have the science to support a need for 55 sizes." Is he saying that the studies have been done and there is no need for anything beyond small, medium, and large? Obviously that's not true. If there was no need then our customers wouldn't be picking out all the 55 sizes we are now providing based on their actual measured size.

Very nifty that our story has been picked up!!! So far Google is showing its been picked up by 8 newspapers.

Legendary Rockers Kiss Get Into Safe Sex Biz

By Bill Berkrot

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Safe sex never looked this dangerous.

Available online and coming soon to record stores and specialty gift shops near you are Kiss Kondoms, a line of contraceptives with members of the outrageous, face-painted rock band Kiss on the packaging.

Now in its fourth decade, the band that recorded such rockers as "Love Gun", "Calling Dr. Love" and "Let's Put the X in Sex" is getting into the safe sex business in partnership with specialty condom retailer Condomania.

"Sex without condoms is just stupid," said Kiss bass player Gene Simmons, who claimed in his autobiography, "Kiss and Make-Up" to have slept with more than 4,600 women, including romances with Cher and former Supremes diva Diana Ross.

Billed as "Rock 'N' Rubbers," the first in the series are bright red latex condoms labeled "Tongue Lubricated."

The box of three, which sells for $4.95, and the foil wrappers protecting the condoms are adorned with a head shot of Simmons in full makeup -- white face with black bat wings around the eyes -- with his famous tongue fully extended.

Despite the racy name, Simmons said he had not personally lubricated the condoms, "however some deserving young ladies will get a personal demonstration, lots of them come to think of it."

Simmons wanted to provide an alternative to the clinical looking condoms sold in drug stores.

"Sex is always embarrassing for people, so when a guy whips out a Kiss condom and there's Gene Simmons's tongue hanging out it lightens up the situation," he told Reuters.

"With the estimated millions of devoted Kiss followers this idea plays very well," said Condomania founder and President Adam Glickman. "The idea of merging Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and the Kiss trademark and legend with a product that stands for fun and sex jibes."

Glickman, who started out selling condoms door-to-door at Tufts University in Boston in 1987, said it was too soon to project revenue from the Kiss Kondoms, "but we expect to sell hundreds of thousands of boxes."

Two more versions are already in the works — a studded condom dubbed the "Studded Paul" and adorned with a photo of Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley, and "Love Gun Protection," an extra strength version with the entire band on the packaging.

If Kiss Kondoms do as well as Glickman expects, he said he would like to explore using other popular musicians on his products. He envisions a possible Ozzy condom, featuring bad boy rocker turned reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne, and a P. Diddy (the former Puff Daddy) version for the hip hop crowd.

Condomania Enjoys Online Growth Spurt

It started the safe-sex decade by opening the first condom shop. Now 70 percent of its business is online and the company is thinking dot-com.

By Damien Cave

Dec. 10, 1999 | After eight years of Crayola-colored bricks, mortar and latex, Condomania says it will close its Los Angeles condom shop on Jan. 1, and reposition itself as an online business. The Melrose Avenue boutique was an early 1990s symbol, part of a movement to make condoms classy and safe sex fun; its closure reflects the social goals of the late 1990s -- to make a buck on e-commerce.

That said, the decision to close up the shop was a no-brainer. Condomania's sales have grown by 50 percent each year since it launched the Web site in 1996 -- and those gains have everything to do with e-commerce. Electronic sales now account for 70 to 80 percent of annual revenues, says Adam Glickman, Condomania's president and founder. This year, the company expects to top $1 million in total sales.

"That's a lot of condoms," Glickman adds. But for someone who has yet to pull in a salary of more than $30,000 a year, it's not nearly enough. Glickman is hoping that repositioning his company as a Net concern will help him attract venture capital. As for whether Condomania could then morph into another high-flying dot-com stock, the jury is still out.

What's clear, however, is that the condom landscape appears fertile. In the Economist's "The World in 2000" special issue, editors declared the condom industry one to watch, predicting that worldwide sales will quadruple over the next decade. With such a well-known brand, Condomania is well positioned, says Michael Clulow, an analyst who tracks the online health industry for CIBC World Markets of Toronto and New York.

Still, the competition is thick. While Internet drugstores are slowly invading the condom space, Good Vibrations and Xandria, both veteran merchants of sex paraphernalia, are watching their Net sales boom.

"It's so obvious that there are opportunities for reaching out to people on the Web that just aren't feasible anywhere else," says Carol Queen, sexologist and Good Vibrations spokeswoman.

She says about half of the company's non-store sales (from catalogues and the Web) now come from online consumers: "The Web is catching up." In fact, the Web may have already caught up (and then some); Queen says November's Web revenue was more than that of the Good Vibrations flagship store in San Francisco.

Glickman sees it as a huge opportunity. "On a local level, there isn't quite the need for the privacy and the sensibility to personal obstacles," he says about his stores in L.A. and New York (the latter will remain open). "But I think on a national and global level, it still exists. There are still thousands and thousands of people who have a hard time with condoms."

Dr. Sandor Gardos, a San Francisco sexologist, agrees: "Condomania normalized and tried to remove the shame from condoms and sex," says Gardos. "I'd like to see that change on the Internet too."

salon.com | Dec. 10, 1999

Condomania Boosts Sales By Going To The Web

Condomania Boosts Sales By Going To The Web

By: Farhan Memon Inter@ctive Week Published 04/13/97

Abstract

Ann Winblad has a sobering message for would-be entrepreneurs. She says they should put their dreams of online commerce aside unless they can spend at least $4 million on their site, if not more. One entrepreneur trying to prove Winblad wrong is Adam Glickman, owner of Condomania (www.condomania.com). The four-store enterprise, with outlets in Los Angeles, Miami and New York, sells nothing but condoms.

Click here to read the full text.

Most Popular Condoms (and Related Products) at Condomania

Note: Based on sales for the first six months of 1996 at all Condomania stores.Source: Condomania, +1(800) 926 6366, www.condomania.com/.