The Chicago White Sox baseball team has installed dispensers of free period products in 11 locations across its home stadium, Guaranteed Rate Field, making it one of the first Major League Baseball teams to do so, according to a news release Aunt Flow, a partner in the effort, shared with Facilities Dive.
Each location will have one dispenser and stock levels in the dispensers, in locations both inside and outside of restrooms, are checked before and after every homestand, said Jonathan Vasquez, senior director of park operations. Particular attention is paid to whether a dispenser is running low and needs emergency restocking at the end of a series or homestand, Vasquez said. Citron Hygiene, the stadium’s hygiene service provider, monitors and refills the new dispensers, said Krista Plewes, head of marketing at Citron Hygiene.
The White Sox will pay a flat fee for Citron Hygiene’s technicians to come in at least once a month for refills, with additional visits scheduled depending on volume, product usage and the number of baseball games in a given month, Vasquez said. This initiative replaces older period product dispensers that were difficult to maintain or service, he said.
Facilities teams often face challenges with maintaining washrooms, and refilling menstrual hygiene products when they run out may not always be a top priority, Plewes said. Further, facilities workers tend to underestimate how frequently items need restocking and how often they need to deal with dispenser breakages, she noted. Citron Hygiene provides regular refills and can respond to off-schedule refill requests, helping to ease the burden on facilities teams, she said.
“The White Sox [have] a growing female fan base,” Aunt Flow founder and CEO Claire Coder said. “It’s a powerful improvement of guest experience [when] fans have access to high-quality organic cotton period products, [as] the White Sox leans in to elevate this experience for women and female fans.”
Aunt Flow’s dispensers cost between $350 and $400 per unit, Coder said. The Chicago White Sox are shouldering the cost of the dispensers and refills, Vasquez said, and the team views it as a typical budgetary line item. “You’re providing this product for free just like you would any other product, like toilet paper or soap dispensers, in restrooms. … You want to make sure you’re showing that there’s true value from a guest experience standpoint,” he said.
The team could add more dispensers next year based on feedback from guests and staff this season, Vasquez said.
