Founded in Edinburgh in 2019 by Kelly Wright with the aim of making plastic-free shopping accessible to as many people as possible, The Refillery is opening a branch in Canterbury, its fourth location.
“In 2020 we launched our franchise model and in 2021 launched our first franchise store,” says Wright. “Later that year we opened another store in the centre of Edinburgh and now we are launching our second franchise and first shop in England.”
She says that franchising was always part of her vision as it enables the business to grow quickly and create a ‘community of like-minded people who share our mission and want to make a positive contribution to their local communities’. “Good local knowledge is so important for our model as we are also advocates of local sourcing and supporting local food systems, so franchising allows us to have that local knowledge,” she adds.
Our main ethos is to reduce the need for plastic packaging and encourage reuse and refilling
“Our range of products has been curated so that most grocery items can be purchased (excluding fresh meat and fish), because it’s important that customers can come and do a full shop with us,” says Wright. “We have a wide range of wholefoods, loose tea and coffee, dairy products, confectionary, detergents, beauty products and even refillable wine and cider, as well as a quality range of local products and zero-waste accessories.”
The stock is organic when available and affordable, but the store is not 100% organic. “Our main ethos is to reduce the need for plastic packaging and encourage reuse and refilling, whilst ensuring that every decision we make considers people, place and planet,” she adds. “We also believe in supporting local producers and makers as this adds to the local economy and reduces food miles. All of our direct suppliers have to pass our strict supplier due diligence process to ensure that their values and sustainable credentials align to ours, and we actively work with small producers to help them transition to plastic-free and/or circular models.”
Catherine Parker, franchisee of the new branch, says she plans to open in late April, with the aim of being ready to celebrate International Mother Earth Day on 22 April. Explaining how the idea came about, Parker says she was frustrated at the absence of a convenient way to reuse her shampoo and detergent bottles in her home town and ‘was at a junction in career terms and wanting a new challenge’.
I came across The Refillery franchise opportunity online and felt it’s exactly the shop I would want to use
“I was quite aware the timing in a recession year and cost of living crisis was not ideal to start a new shop, but I came across The Refillery franchise opportunity online and felt it’s exactly the shop I would want to use regularly if it were on my high street. All the soundings from my teenage kids, wider family and local friends agreed the concept is an important one and The Refillery brand is on-point for Canterbury’s needs.”
The shop is located on the cobbled streets of Canterbury’s Cathedral Quarter in the heart of the city. “With the rich range of independent speciality shops, bars and restaurants it’s a heritage destination loved by visiting tourists and also a uniquely characterful retail location for local and city residents,” Parker says. “The Refillery will be a uniquely ethical convenience store for the growing population living on our doorstep in the city centre, and also provide a valuable environmentally responsible ‘community service’ for the much wider population of residents and commuters from surrounding areas who choose to come into town as a destination to work, shop or just hang out.”
This is Parker’s first step into retail, but she’s been involved with a range of good causes in CEO roles for local charities and social enterprises for many years. “The issue of environmentally conscious consumerism is as urgent and important a cause as it gets, and as a family we’ve been challenging ourselves to reduce our own plastic rubbish, but also learn more about the complex technical, economic and logistical challenges around eradicating plastics.”
Photos: Stewart Attwood Photography 2020
