
Julie Boosts Access To Emergency Contraception By Doubling Its Retail Footprint With CVS And Target Launches
Julie, the emergency contraception provider that launched in September, has doubled its retail footprint.
After initially rolling out nationwide to 4,500 Walmart stores and on the megachain’s website, the brand has now entered 5,600 CVS locations and 1,500 Target locations. The expansion brings its retail network in the United States to roughly 12,000 doors. Julie president and co-founder Amanda E/J Morrison, co-founder and former COO of Mented Cosmetics, calls it “a huge win. This is all about increased access.”
At CVS, Julie is introducing a two-count pack of the emergency contraceptive pill that’s exclusive to the pharmacy. The offering was created to meet the growing demand for emergency contraception and change shopping behavior by encouraging people to have some on hand in case they need it. The brand originally hit the market with a one-pill pack.
“This is about us putting the customer first,” says Morrison. “We know that, if you are engaging in sexual activity, you have to be prepared. If you have condoms at home or birth control, you should also have emergency contraception. The two-count [pack] allows us to really engage consumers with that idea of, what if you had it at the convenience of your own home?”
She adds, “The closer you take this pill within the 72-hour window of having unprotected sex, the more effective it is. If you just had unprotected sex and you walk into your bathroom and you take emergency contraception, you’re that much better off.”

Julie offers a 1.5-mg. levonorgestrel emergency contraception pill that’s similar to other emergency contraceptive pills available like Plan B. It’s priced at $42 to $46 for the single-count pack and $70.55 for the two-count pack, making Julie’s pills priced at a premium for an over-the-counter drug available in generic form. My Choice, for example, is priced at $11 and sells at Walmart. Telehealth pharmacies such as Wisp sell a 1.5-mg. levonorgestrel emergency contraception pill for $17. Stix has a four-tablet pack for $114.
Morrison, who started Julie with Julie Schott and Brian Bordainick, co-founders of the buzzy skincare brands Starface and Futurewise, says the pricing ensures Julie can “do all the things that we want to do.” The brand brings beauty caliber design to staid family planning aisles in an effort to deliver a product consumers aren’t ashamed of dropping in their baskets.
Along with its modern branding, Julie aims to educate in a modern way that speaks to younger consumers. Morrison shares the largest concentration of emergency contraceptive users are 18 to 24 years old. She says, “Let’s improve the process online, let’s improve the education, let’s provide a lot of content in this palatable, more thoughtful way. How can we completely reimagine the customer experience?”
The premium prices help with Julie’s one-for-one giveback program, too. Morrison says that Julie works with about 70 donation partners across the U.S. to reach different consumer segments regardless of geography or political ideology. In January, Julie executed its first major donation of about 200,000 units in partnership with the organization Kentucky Equal Justice Alliance.
“We not only donate the products, but we also provide content and activations in the communities that most need us,” says Morrison. “We wanted to build a company that really thought about the entire customer journey for those who can and cannot afford us.”
Julie has plans beyond reimagining pharmaceuticals. Morrison suggests its long-term goal is to shake up a number of products in the OTC space. “I think everything in the reproductive sexual wellbeing space is very interesting to us,” she says. “I think anywhere where there’s shame and stigma, we want to normalize that behavior or that symptom or that issue.”
In the U.S., people are hungry for resources in a political environment that’s divided states on reproductive rights issues. On Monday, Florida’s Republican-led Senate passed a bill to outlaw most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, tightening abortion access that’s currently restricted after 15 weeks and essentially banning almost all abortions. The state’s House of Representatives passed a similar bill, and Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to turn it into law. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, 25 states have banned abortion or are likely to do so.
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