The first batch of women’s glassware will be available to the public this week at Polygon’s glass pantry doors.
The women’s collection is a welcome change from the days when men could only buy women-made glassware.
While men can buy a women’s piece of glassware at the store, they have to wait until they have had it tested for their desired gender before they can use it.
“There’s no excuse for this,” said Katie Saylor, Polygon staff photographer.
“It’s something that women want to use.”
Polygon has been working to make sure Glass Pantry doors and glassware is a safe space for women.
Glass Pantries, a women-only store on the south side of Portland, is run by an all-women team and has a strict policy that no one is allowed to touch glass.
They also ban customers from carrying the same brand of glass as their gender.
“We wanted to do something that made people feel safe in the store,” said Saylor.
Saylor and her team have been working hard to make Glass Pantrie doors as safe and welcoming as possible.
Sayers is the owner of the Glass Pantriaries, which she owns with her husband.
She said she was motivated to open Glass Pantricies after having a similar experience at a different store.
“I had a friend come in and I said, ‘I’m a girl and I love my glassware and I want to open up the Glass pantry,'” Sayers said.
The friend told her she was going to have to take her own glassware home, but Sayers had no other choice.
“She was terrified of going into the store and not knowing what to do,” Sayers explained.
“That was really scary.”
Sayers decided to open her own store because she said it was important to have a safe place for women to shop for glass.
“You have to be able to feel safe and you have to feel confident,” Saylor said.
Glass pantries are not only a way for women in Portland to shop, but also to help them feel comfortable shopping.
“They can feel comfortable about going in there, they can feel confident that they’re going to be welcomed, and they can shop and shop and see what’s on the shelves,” Sayer said.
Says the Glass Bathrooms store is one of the few places where women can shop for their own glass, and the fact that they are also selling women’s items is a step in the right direction.
The Glass Pantiaries also offer a glass break table, and Sayers says the break table is an important step in helping women feel more comfortable shopping for their glassware, too.
“A break table makes sure that we have a comfortable and safe space to talk about glass, to discuss glassware,” Says said.
Polygon will have more information on the glass pantries opening at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
