The feel-good factor of buying from a zero-waste store is amplified when you find out that even the shelving in the shop is made from reclaimed wood.
Refillz was opened by husband-and-wife duo Sinéad and Martin Wisely when they returned to Ireland after several years in Canada, only to experience the “culture shock” of the reams of plastic packaging that came with their online supermarket order.
“In Vancouver, even the mainstream supermarkets had zero-waste sections, where you could fill up your own containers with nuts or seeds or rice or whatever,” Sinéad explains. “But also, all the fruit and veg was package free, so to realise how much packaging there was in the average shopping trolley back here really got us thinking.”
Fast forward to September 2021 and Refillz was born, with the couple kitting out the shop with recycled or reclaimed materials and doing all the work themselves, aided by family members. They now have two shops, selling whole foods, household cleaning products and eco-friendly products, and it’s all package-free as their customers simply bring a reusable container and pay by weight for each product.
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Their customer base is growing slowly but steadily, fuelled by word of mouth and a growing trend towards avoiding excessive packaging and curbing food waste.
“We see new people here every single day. People come in and browse around the shop, maybe pick up a couple of little bits, then come back later that week with all their containers to fill them up,” says Sinéad. “But then we also have people come back that very day with their containers, as they are so excited by the idea.”
Being responsive to customers has also helped the Wiselys attract and retain them; Sinéad says she often stocks products based on customer recommendations. Although the couple offered “the staples” when they first opened their business, many of the scoop bins now in their stores “have been filled by requests from our customers”, she adds. “We want to have that relationship with them.”
They also supply local bakeries and restaurants and have a small but significant online presence that they are hoping to build on.
Winning one of the Three grants for small businesses came at just the right time, after, Sinéad admits, she applied “on a whim”.
“After we were shortlisted, we had to make a video and I took it on the really old phone I had. It used to die every 10 minutes. We really needed a decent phone for taking photographs and videos for our website and social media, as sometimes we had to use stock photos but it was better to have our own.”
Meanwhile, one of their laptops had been damaged, while the other one was “very old”.
“So we were able to get a state-of-the-art phone from Three and used the cash to invest in two new laptops that were badly needed. It means we can both work separately on the business at the same time instead of one of us waiting to use the laptop,” says Sinéad.
The financial grant, as well as mentoring advice from Three’s business experts, will help to grow the business even more.
“We were able to buy more stock because, to date, it had all been our own personal finances we had been using to fund the shops. It’s so nice to have that buffer in case there is a bit of a hiccup along the way, which can happen with a small business.”
Indeed, owning a small business can sometimes feel like a thankless slog. Sinéad says winning the grant from Three represents external validation that is priceless.
“Obviously everyone thinks that their business is the best thing in the world but when someone else backs you up, it gives you that validation, it gives you that sense of achievement. We both left good jobs to do this because we really believed in it, so it’s great to know that a huge organisation like Three believes in us too.”
For more information on Three Ireland’s grants for small business visit three.ie/business/sme-grants
