Making condoms is as complex as making wine," says Volker de l'Homme de Courbière, his long coat flowing behind him as he strides along the banks of the Rhine. "We have people who've been doing this for 30 or 40 years," he continues. "People with a real tradition, a know-how — people who can." He has been at it just seven years himself, but during that time he has helped two students build their Cologne-based chain of condom shops into a thriving enterprise. In the process their company, Condomi, has garnered nearly 10% of Europe's condom market.
The company began in 1988 when Oliver Gothe and Peter Klandt decided to start selling "erectionwear" out of a quirky little shop in downtown Cologne. To advertise, they bought a rickety old East German Trabant car, painted "Condomi" on it, and parked it in front of a popular nightspot. Then they hired cartoonist Ralf König to draw four of the cutest, most ethnically diverse, gender-unspecific condoms anyone had ever seen. The lecherous but somehow cuddly little fellas struck a chord. "We were overwhelmed," Gothe recalls, "and 70% of our customers were women." Within months, people in other cities asked about setting up their own shops and by the end of their second year they had franchises from Berlin to Athens.
Corporate consultant de l'Homme de Courbière met Gothe. "Oliver wasn't dealing too well with things like bills and paperwork," says de l'Homme de Courbière, "and they weren't sure how serious they were." Gothe and Klandt decided to move forward, and de l'Homme de Courbière became chairman. They then contracted the well-established balloon and condom maker Everts Erfurt to supply them with their own brand of made-to-order condoms.
Armed with their own brand, they began renting space in department stores, where they erected bubble gum-colored phallic booths. "It was the only way we could get good shelf space," Gothe says. The shop-in-shop concept spread across Germany and into Austria, and when Everts' balloon sales sagged, Condomi bought the manufacturer and focused it on condom making. In November 1999 Condomi went public and became one of this year's few German ipo success stories. Investor cash and government development grants will enable the firm to triple production in Erfurt to roughly 700 million condoms a year.
As for buyers, the company has joint ventures with distribution partners and subsidiaries across Europe and Africa, as well as a deal to supply Durex in the U.S. They've since moved their offices to the building where the original eau de Cologne was manufactured, and that rickety Trabant has been spruced up for a new ad blitz. Condomi has also opened a media division, which has a three-year contract to manage erotic content for rtl Television's website — naturally with links to www.condomi.com. "That's mostly Gothe's initiative," de l'Homme de Courbière says. "He's a natural at marketing." And marketing condoms, he might add, is as complex as making them. And competitors will watch to see if the company's frisky, frivolous approach takes hold outside Europe.
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Fresh Start
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For Love and Money
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