In January 2023 I visited an available retail property in West Asheville. After a few months of thinking "wow, that would be so cool to start a period store in this location." I put together a business plan for the bank and started the process.
In May things became official and I announced that Period Nirvana would be coming to a real brick and mortar store soon. Ever since we got the keys a sign has been in the door "coming soon."
Soon is relative, I later learned. Delay after delay have prevented us from opening the store as hoped in late Fall of 2024. The horrific hurricane Helene devastated Asheville, further delaying our plans to open. We were one of the lucky ones, the location of our store was spared all damage other than being left without water for over a month. Neighbors just a few minutes away lost everything and many lost their lives. We know how lucky we are but we are still facing an uncertain future thanks in part to what Helene has done to the city of Asheville.
After 4 long months of waiting for our buildout permit to be approved we are now ready to begin construction of the store. Helene related approvals were prioritized, understandably. Now we are ready to get to work on the design drawn up many months ago.
We have big plans to make this location something truly special. Period Nirvana will be a destination for all of your cycle care needs and a hub for incredible workshops. We want people to feel welcome while they shop for products in a dedicated space staffed by people with real expertise on reusable period brands.
Not only that, but we have been hard at work behind the scenes on creating a period products museum. We will have an exhibit featuring 100 years of period product innovation. Nothing like this has ever been attempted; we are ambitious (or naive) enough to try.
Delays on this project have been costly, the longer we remain closed the longer we have to pull from funds initially intended for the buildout and store inventory investment. Already, some budget cuts have been made to help make this all work.
We won't lie - if business doesn't pick up we will be looking at harder decisions leading up to our store's opening. Our community has always been there for us and until now we have only asked for support by sharing our resources and links. Given these challenges we have decided to lean a little harder on those who want to help us. Customers can now add a tip when checking out at period.shop online. These funds will go towards our store's buildout expenses. So if you want to help us see this through and make it as amazing as possible we would appreciate any and all additional support.
This is the hardest time of year for us as a period product store. Period items are not top of mind around the holidays. If you have been putting off replacing your cup or buying new period underwear think of us before you head to a big box online retailer. We can't compete with their free shipping or sales but we make up for it in our excellent service and resources.
Your support is crucial and supports not only our business, our future store, but also enables us to provide the helpful online video resources so many have come to rely on.
Thank you for your continued support,
