Happiness Shop brings condoms, confusion to Tehran
 

TEHRAN, Iran -- The only condom store in Tehran is The Happiness Shop, squeezed into a cramped, closetlike space of corrugated metal and concrete walls, just beneath the stairs of The Happiness Mall.

In most countries, a condom shop would not raise an eyebrow, but Iran is hardly the land of free love. Even in the capital of Tehran, signs proclaim, "A woman modestly dressed is as a pearl in its shell," and boxes of hair dye are often stacked backward to prevent men from seeing women's uncovered heads. Police keep an eye on potentially immoral behavior.

So The Happiness Shop is an oddity, one that capitalizes on the government's goal of controlling the population and on the world's goal of controlling AIDS. Posters promoting AIDS prevention hang in the shop, although workers say they know no one with AIDS in Iran. A tiny cartoon gives instructions on condom use.

"It was kind of funny for people in the beginning," said Reza Saqafi, 25, who owns the store with his brother. "They laughed to think of such a store."

None of these condoms, all made in Iran, feature the typical Western packaging -- silhouettes of couples in sexy poses. Instead, these covers show a setting sun shaped like a heart, or smiling apples with sunglasses on a desert island.

The most popular is a new design called Rose, which costs $1.50 for a box of 12. If a customer buys 20 boxes, he gets a gold coin as a gift. The Rose condoms helped The Happiness Shop win back market share after some Chinese condoms took over the market last spring.

"Their quality was really bad, but they were cheap," Saqafi said.

Although Tehran's pharmacies occasionally sell condoms, this is the only store to specialize in them.

Women rarely come into the store, Saqafi lamented. Even if they do, they do not necessarily know what they are looking at. He said one woman once walked inside, picked up a pack of condoms and stared at the green circles pictured on the pack.

"What do those tea strainers cost?" she asked.

The shop has been trying to do more education at home and even take Iranian condoms to the world, exporting J.B. condoms, made according to the unspecified "British standard."

"The Romanians liked them," Saqafi said.

The Happiness Shop also has set up a Web site, although that has caused trouble. An Iranian pornography site told people that the shop sold sex toys, which led to many phone calls.

But the store sells none of those things. Doing so would definitely bring the wrath of Iran's morality police.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.../world/2571035

:1orglaugh

I couldnt imagine living in a country like that.

the best fuckin god damn country in the world