The Stall Standard | Issue 4 | Menstrual Products in the Workplace: Why 36% of Facility Managers Never Considered It"

Welcome back to The Stall Standard!

This month we're talking about something we hear over and over again from both architects and facility teams: why period care is getting left off of the restroom specs in the first place, and how we're changing that.

HE SPEC GAP

According to an ISSA survey of 441 commercial, retail, educational, and healthcare facilities. Only 38% of U.S. workplaces currently provide free menstrual products in their restrooms. Even more telling: 36% of Facility Managers surveyed said they'd simply never considered providing period products. Not because of budget or pushback, it just never crossed their minds.

At the same time, the design world has started naming this problem directly. A recent Architectural Record piece on commercial washroom trends called out mismatched dispensers from different manufacturers as a source of "aesthetic friction," a fragmented, bolted-on feeling that reads as an afterthought. The industry's answer is finishes and fixtures that don't fight each other

Source: ISSA-The Association for Cleaning & Facility Solutions survey, reported by Forbes, April 2026 Source: Architectural Record, "Elevating Commercial Washroom Design," March 2026.

FROM INSIDE THE STALL

We're already working with design leaders to bring period care back into the specs, working to make sure it's not just an afterthought. A big part of that conversation is finish and color.

That's why UNICORN in every stall dispensers can be specified in custom colors to match the rest of a room's fixtures. A dispenser doesn't have to be the piece that breaks the palette. It can be the piece that was actually planned for.

STALL OF FAME: Nixon Peabody LLP 

Like a lot of workplaces, Nixon Peabody had the old coin-op machine hanging in the common area, the kind that's been there for years and nobody thinks twice about. In just a few months, that changed completely. Today, UNICORN is in every stall, bringing privacy and convenience to employees, clients, and guests.

Want to be featured in the UNICORN Stall of Fame? Send us a picture and we will highlight you and your team. 📸

Have a question about your current set up or want to revisit the conversation? Reach out to Lindsay Domaas at Lindsay@everystall.com.