Nancy Boy; Eco-conscious products

Nancy Boy, nestled in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, is one of the best home and… I guess, beauty product shops you can find anywhere. Initially designed and targeted for gay men, Nancy Boy is an awesome find for anyone. Now in it’s fourth year the company is anything but typical.

All the products are eco-conscious and made from the best ingredients founder Eric Roos could find. Everything they sell is produced for them right in Berkeley, California by a family-owned pharmaceutical lab. Nancy Boy products are “Tested on boyfreinds. Not on Animals”. The Nancy Boy story is worth reading. As with the rest of the company, Eric isn’t your typical exec. He was even kind enough to give us some of his valuable time while preparing for the holidays and getting ready to open a second location (347 Hayes St.).

I’ve been living with the products for a few weeks now and I’m sure neither I nor my very bachelor apartment have smelled better. Products range from shave cream, which I would highly recommend, to room spray and even laundry soap. Their product line is growing all the time as they strive to introduce something new each month. It’s a brand that will inspire loyalty almost immediately.

Eric’s blog is on par with the best blogs out there… far from corporate, it’s clear he puts his heart and soul into Nancy Boy. We spoke at length about his sort of backward business model. The stores, soon to be “store” again, are meant to showcase the products and act as a gateway to the web. Not the other way around. Eric wanted the shop to be like Kiehl’s in New York, a place he spoke of fondly. Not only that he wanted to sell the same sort of products. He wanted to sell the same sort of authenticity. The idea is that the Nancy Boy store will be a “pilgrimage” shopping destination. When you’re in San Francisco, you stop by. You won’t see Nancy Boy products in other stores so if you want to try out all the great new stuff you make the trip or order it blind. Though I won’t hesitate to order anything from them whether I’ve tried it or not.

I would say Eric is about as enlightened as they come regarding business. He even spoke of running the company in terms of parenting. More akin to growing a business than building it. For instance Nancy Boy is, as mentioned above, pretty clearly intended for gay men and their girlfriends but when the customer base shifted to a more mainstream crowd Eric decided to move the store to a more central location on Hayes street. The business is in some sense being allowed to become what it will like a growing child. Kind of an interesting approach. Give it some guidance and impart good values and such but if it goes in a particular direction, let it. Here’s a quote from the web site.

Four years later, Nancy Boy’s burgeoning success is proof that folks who get it choose truth over hype, quality over image, every day of the week. On average, Nancy Boy spends seven times more on ingredients than its salon and department store competitors who have the audacity to charge extra for their inferior products. And each month, these brands continue their sales declines, despite spending more and more on advertising to halt the slide. The gig’s up – authenticity is on the march!

It was one of the most real conversations about business I have ever had. Right down to admitting that talk is cheap and while it could all just be clever PR, I somehow knew it really wasn’t. Authenticity really is on the march. Our decidedly straight friend, Jimi wallet creator Mike O’Neill, was the one who told me I needed to check it out. When two guys hanging out in a pub talking over meatball sandwiches have a serious discussion about a health and beauty store called Nancy Boy, you know you are on to something. 

So, check it out. The new website just launched and the new store, I am looking forward to visiting, is open. You won’t be disappointed with the products or the exemplary customer service. If you are lucky they will even screw up your order. Word on the street is that if they do you get lots freebies.

Favorite items so far; shave cream and shower soap.

Just in case you were wondering. This post was, as usual, not paid for and put together out of nothing more than interest and a strong desire to share it with all of you.