Basic Brands: Goodparts
Goodparts is a personal care brand that makes products for the type of sex life you want and ought to have i.e. lube. Destimatizing sex and pleasure has come a long way. Goodparts founder Dave Shanfield is pushing the boundaries even further!
Available online and in-store at Basic Goods.
One day when they write about the history of Goodparts, what is the origin story they will tell?
A few years ago, I was talking with my friend who, in his late 20s, had just recently introduced lube into his sex life. I'm gay (he's straight) and was pretty familiar with a lot of the brands he had just started experimenting with, but I realized there wasn't a brand that I was really excited about — something that I'd actually want to reccomend, or feel proud to leave out on my nightstand.
In the back of my mind I think I had always wished there was a sleeker, better designed lube brand, but I think the bigger opportunity sort of crystalized in that moment. I wanted to create a brand that could speak about good sex in a modern way that more people could connect with.
How has the pandemic impacted your business and its launch?
It's hard to know where to begin — the whole brand was conceived and developed pre-covid, which hit the US just as we were preparing to launch. There were delays in production, and a lot of the launch marketing and retail partnerships we were planning became irrelevant. Social media and online marketing also became prohibitively expensive.
And also, how are you supposed to talk about launching a lube in the middle of a pandemic?
BUT in a lot of ways I think the challenge ended up making the brand that much stronger. I wanted to create something that could bridge the gap between peoples' sex lives and everyday life, the good and the bad. Between the pandemic, politics, and protests last year, I've had to learn when and how to speak up — and also when to shut up and listen.
I think the pandemic changed the landscape for all brands, old and new, and everyone is just trying to figure it out. I think there's room to experiment, make mistakes, and see what sticks, and I'm embracing that mentality.
It seems like there are a growing number of sexual wellness brands in the market. How is VGP similar? And how is it different?
Well one important distinction is that we're not a sex brand — we're just a brand that can't stop talking about sex.
The recent boom in the sexual wellness space is great — people should have good, high-quality and well-designed options to choose from. In this way, Goodparts fits right in. But I think some of the newer lube and sexual wellness brands are forgetting to be... well, sexy. I think that's where we have an edge.
What are you listening to right now? What are you reading?
I'm most excited to continue to build the Goodparts community. I think there's so much potential for a brand that can encourage healthy conversations about sex in a way that feels respectful and relevant but also fun for guys to engage with. As a small, independent business I see every customer as a stakeholder. I want to make stuff that they want.
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