68 million women in the US get their periods. If you’re good at statistics, you can probably work out the number of Australian women who do. Let’s say it’s a very big target market for any shop. Except there isn’t one for women who get their periods – even though there are shops for sunglasses, hot sauce and men’s shaving gear.

Sarah Michelson, a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, had noticed this. And blogged about it on Tumblr.

Her blog gave an agency called Organic an idea.

“We know consumers and women have a lot of ideas about how to make things better when it comes to periods, period experiences and just the feminine care category in general,” stated Lauren Kren, brand manager for U by Kotex.

So last weekend, May 13 -15 at Fifth Avenue and Avenue Street, New York got a shop for women who get their periods. The Period Shop was a pop-up store by U by Kotex that sold all the things women need and crave once a month – comfy clothes (Elise and Natasha of YouTube’s VerveGirlTV gave away custom T-shirts to the first 450 visitors on Saturday), custom tampon pillows, Brooklyn Bell ice cream and Bon Bon Bon chocolates, beauty products among them…and U by Kotex products.

Crystal Boersma, lead creative director on the project from Organic, explained, “One of the most inspirational parts of Sarah’s post was when she said we need a space where we’re respected and revered. When I run out of lipstick, I’m really excited to buy more lipstick. And I should have the same excitement to replace my tampons or pads. So a bright, open space dedicated to this is long overdue, and we’re really excited to be the ones to make it happen.”

The Period Shop is part of U by Kotex’ new campaign, The Period Projects, to imporve women’s period experiences, change the way people think and speak about periods and make U by Kotex the go-to brand.

Organic worked with Mindshare (media buying and partnerships), Geometry Global, KC Connect (sampling and shopper marketing) and Marina Maher Communications (PR) on the The Period Shop. Most of its products come from companies led by women who are making a difference in their field, and all proceeds from the shop will go to the New York women’s shelter, Susan’s Place.