Now Open – Period Nirvana AVL – a Cycle Care Store From Menarche to Menopause
We are bringing our unique online shopping experience to Asheville, North Carolina! Haywood Rd is our new home and we love this vibrant community of locals as well as the tourists who visit this beautiful town located in the mountains of North Carolina.
Over four years ago I decided to start the first reusable period care e-commerce store in the US. That store, Shop.PeriodNirvana.com, is now in its fifth year and offers hundreds of period care products of the highest quality from the very best brands in this space.
Education has always been the heart and soul of my work in the period space which is why I also started Period Nirvana, a website dedicated to free educational videos and resources.
The idea behind the two brands was to have an educational aspect available for free to people around the world (Period Nirvana) and an e-commerce platform to financially support that educational work (Shop.PeriodNirvana.com.)
Having a physical space to combine education and shopping has always been a quiet dream that rattled around in my head but felt too crazy to act on. Who is going to shop at a period store?! How can a period store survive financially? Who will help run this imaginary period store with me? Am I the right person to take on running a retail store? It has been a quandary on what to name the store but because the heart of our brand is Period Nirvana this felt like the right name for our brick-and-mortar store.
How it came to be
1 year ago I found a storefront in West Asheville and I realized Asheville is where my imaginary store should be. Maybe not now, but one day. The available property ignited the idea and I started thinking of ways to eventually make this happen. I joked to my husband about making it in this store but that was a farfetched idea. Secretly, I was already imagining the space as a Period Nirvana store and started photoshopping ideas in the space. Finally, the jokes were less and less jokey and more and more “Let’s talk this out maybe I can make this happen.”
One comprehensive business plan and financial analysis later the freight train was in motion. I’ve been both physically ill at the idea and excited beyond measure with the usual sprinkling of “Who the fuck do you think you are this is never going to work?!” thrown into the mix. I dared utter this plan out loud to a friend who is also a therapist. Her response to my many “and then if this happens we will be forced to… ” was “All I hear are solutions, not problems.” I think (and hope) she is right. If anyone can do this it’s me. Initially, I felt quite alone in this idea for a period store. I had only heard of the Period Museum in Taiwan. Yet in those initial months, I came to learn about another brick-and-mortar period store in Berlin, Periodenladen, and I coincidentally was going there for a trip to a period exhibit. While visiting this incredible space I learned of another period store in the US, Moxie’s Moon Shop in Alexandria VA, and have been in touch with the new owner who has been incredibly kind and supportive of my idea to open the 2nd period store in the US. And from Emily, I learned of several other period stores, mostly in Europe. Suddenly, I didn’t feel as alone to be embarking on this idea.
What to expect from Period Nirvana AVL
Our ambitions are sky-high. Learn more about what we have in store for visitors to Period Nirvana.
Workshops
We are so excited to provide thoughtful workshops and classes on all things menstruation and women’s/AFAB health. If you know an amazing cycle expert, or pelvic floor therapist, or OB/GYN, or other relevant expert in the Asheville area or you are one please email kim@periodnirvana .com because we want your expertise for local workshops. I will be hosting workshops on reusable period products for the community as well as workshops for medical professionals who want in-depth knowledge on the topic they can take back to their clients and patients. Now more than ever we need safe common spaces where community can share knowledge and come together, especially in the women’s and AFAB health space.
Cycle Care Store – From Menarche to Menopause
- The most amazing selection of quality reusable period cups and discs. At a time when big box stores are offering fewer brands and styles than they did 3-4 years ago Period Nirvana will have more than you’ve ever seen in your life in ONE PLACE. Explore cups and discs in person in a way never before possible. All of the brands we carry online to be stocked at our brick & mortar and then some.
- A thoughtful selection of reusable period underwear – we are working with our friends at Saalt Wear to pick the right styles for our store and now that they have an expanded size range and teen sizes we can bring inclusive sizes to our customers.
- Pads and tampons – we recognize that our customers may be “cup curious” but not quite ready to make the switch, especially pre-teens and teens just beginning to menstruate. And not everyone is a candidate for reusables – we want everyone to find what they need for their period at our store. We have organic pads and tampons available as well as reusable cloth pad options.
- Educational resources – we LOVE our period library and will have the same titles we carry online available in our brick-and-mortar store. Look for titles perfect for children (Vaginas and Periods 101 Pop-Up set the standard!) to titles for adults ready to learn about perimenopause and menopause. Our ethos is “from menarche to menopause” and we mean it!
- Cycle care and wellness – we are looking for tested and proven cycle care and pain relief products (no snake oil or predatory gimmick supplements) to offer. We also plan to offer other cycle wellness, vaginal, and fertility products. Have a suggestion? We are all ears, email us kim@periodnirvana .com.
- Cleaning soaps and accessories – find cup/disc safe soaps, sanitizers, steamers, travel-friendly cleaners, etc in the shop. Expect to see the products we offer online at our brick & mortar. Our store will have an open sink where we can demo how to take care of your new cup or disc and you can test out our cleansers.
- Gifts – we offer more “fun” items that will fit perfectly in with our period care selection. Uterus plushie? Stickers and pins. These items are meant to be paired with our period care options for anyone creating thoughtful first-period kits and baskets.
Menstrual Museum
A MUSEUM?! Yep! For many years I have been working on researching and preserving the history of reusable period product development. In that time I’ve collected and preserved incredible items and ephemera that deserve to see the light of day. This small section of our store offers a look back at the products and advertisements of the early 1900s up to the present day. We showcase disposable and reusable items and educate our guests about the incredible developments made, the sometimes toxic mistakes, the change in attitudes towards menstruation over the decades through the lens of how products have been advertised, and more.
Follow our main social media accounts to learn more about @PeriodNirvana and our mission to make period product education fun and accessible.
And follow our brand new Instagram account just for our store @PeriodNirvanaAVL
Have a question for us ? Get in touch directly.
