I Opened a Refill Store! Answering Your FAQs About ECO MKE
I’ve been radio silent over here lately. And that’s because I’ve been a little busier than usual with my new venture: a REFILL STORE! Here are some of your most frequently asked questions and the latest news on what’s happening with my shop.
I had talked about opening a refillery or eco-focused store for years, and I finally decided to take the plunge and do it! Even though this was in the works for awhile, I have now been open for business for just a few months. For those of you that have no idea what I’m talking about, let me FILL you in. 😉
If you’ve been here for awhile, you know I am super passionate about our health and the planet. I opened this shop because 1) I’m crazy, and 2) Milwaukee was desperately in need of more refillable options.
In the past, Milwaukee has had two refill stores, The Glass Pantry and Greenlife Trading Co (which still exists in Madison!). I was a frequent visitor of these shops and loved having a local place to refill my soaps and body care! I have to give credit to them because they are a big part of the inspiration for me starting a store of my own. It was sad to see those stores go, and it left a hole in the heart of the eco community here in the city. I give props to Glass Pantry and Greenlife, because I’m learning myself that running a refill store is hard work! But I’m hoping to make a lasting impact in the community that hopefully sticks around.
What is ECO MKE Refillery?
ECO MKE is a sustainable pop-up and online shop that carries items that are better for you and the planet. Our goal is to eventually be a one-stop-shop for all of your home and body care essentials. We currently have plastic-free kitchen items, refillable soaps and cleaners, non-toxic beauty, low-waste laundry products, and more.
All of our products are eco-friendly in some way, whether it’s compostable, refillable, or reusable. On top of that, our products are also non-toxic and made with natural ingredients. Everything we carry is heavily vetted. We don’t work with brands that greenwash, so you can feel good about your purchase.
Since I’ve announced the opening of this shop, I’ve gotten a tonnn of questions on operations and how this all works. So I thought it would be fun to post a blog to give you the scoop!
Q: Where is your store located?
This is our MOST frequently asked question, and unfortunately I never have a good answer for this. The short answer is: We don’t have a brick-and-mortar location. People usually look at me pretty confused when I tell them we don’t have a physical storefront. Our goal is to have that eventually, but for now, pop-ups and markets are our main form of face-to-face shopping.
As of last month, you can now also shop some of our products in person at The Little Village Play Cafe in Wauwatosa! 🤗 We were so lucky to be offered some shelf space so early on in our business. All of the local businesses we’ve connected with so far have been so helpful and supportive. Our selection of products at Little Village are kid-focused and family friendly. There are other local businesses that are vendors there too! Go grab a coffee from the cafe and check it out.
Q: How can I get refills from you?
We currently offer a variety of refillables both in person and online. With not having a physical storefront, we wanted to give people options to be able to refill with us. For our liquid products, we sell per ounce in person, and we encourage you to bring your own bottles and jars! Liquid refills are sold in 16 ounce refill pouches online. We don’t sell in multiple amounts online just to keep things simple and consistent, and 16 ounces is a pretty decent size for a refill.
Other products like our toothpaste bits or dental floss come in plastic-free refill packs. We don’t always have refills for these products on hand with us at markets, but they are available online! We do offer local pick-up and drop-off for online orders. You can use code LOCALHOMIE to get free shipping, that way we know it’s a local order.
As we expand, we plan to change things up with our refill process. Eventually we’d like to have aluminum bottles and create a closed-loop system with those instead of having refill pouches. This whole thing is a learning process for us too! We want to make refilling convenient and fun but still keep it sustainable. I’d also like to note that not everything in our store is “refillable”. There are plenty of other products that are reusable over and over again or in “naked” packaging, like hair bars and soaps.
**BTW, you CAN return your empty refill pouches back to us! We’d love to take them back and reuse them.
Q: What does the refill process look like?
Liquid refills are sold per ounce. We always encourage people to bring their own bottles to our events, but we do have glass jars that can be filled in case you forgot yours at home! We first weight your bottle, then you fill it up, then we weigh it again and subtract it’s “tare weight” so all you pay for is the product!
To people that aren’t familiar with the process, it can seem overwhelming, but we do everything we can to make it easy and fun. We currently carry: dish soap, hand soap, body wash, and all purpose cleaner, but we plan to expand our liquid refills selection very soon. 😊🫙 Other refillable items, like our dishwasher tablets and toilet bowl bombs, are sold by quantity. We don’t weight these products like we do our liquids. All you have to do is fill your container with how many you want.
The nice thing about selling items this way is that it gives you the option to buy a small amount and sample things first before committing to more. Just another way we are fighting waste!
Q: Can I buy this entire gallon of dish soap?
Every single market there is a random dad that asks us this, and most of the time it’s someone that’s cracking a joke or isn’t familiar with what refilling is. I always say something like, “If that’s how much you want, then go for it!”. Then there’s a laugh, some confusion, and then they ask me what exactly it is that I’m doing with that much soap lol. Then I explain the whole refillery thing, and tell them they can fill up with however much they need. And they say, “Wow, wait, that’s so smart!”. So going back to the question, the answer is no…but also kind of yes?
I actually do sell to people in large amounts when requested in advance! I have had a few small businesses purchase hand soap and cleaner in larger quantities. If you or anyone you know is interested in this, send us an email at hello@ecomke.com ! We’d love to partner up with you. 😊
Q: What are your favorite products?
This is honestly such a hard question for me! Whenever someone walks up to our table at a pop-up, I always say, “Let me know if you have questions! I use and love everything on this table, so I know how it all works and feels,”. It’s true. I am a personal user of just about every item I have in stock. Many of the brands I work with in my store are brands I have worked with for years through personal use, affiliate marketing, and influencer campaigns. It’s so cool how I’ve expanded my relationship with so many of my favorite companies!
To answer this question in a fair way, I’ll tell you my top five favorite products as of right now (and I’ll link everything so you can check it out too).
- toothpaste bits (these are a best seller!)
- exfoliating shower glove
- wavy glass straw
- dish soap
- tinted sunscreen
Q: Do you plan on stocking _____ soon?
We get frequent questions about other products we might have in the future. With us being new, I wouldn’t say our inventory is huuuge, but I will say that we have over doubled our inventory since opening (which is crazy). I love the variety that we have, and one of my favorite parts of the business is shopping around for new products hehehe.
Many of the items we’ve added on sine opening have been requested by our customers. We are certainly open to more requests, so keep them coming! We want to stock things that check all of our eco boxes, but also things that YOU will actually use and buy.
I think that about covers it! Do you have a question that wasn’t answered in this blog post? Drop it in the comments below! We also take requests for new products very seriously, because we want to stock things you want to buy! If you have a product request, drop a comment here or send us a message.
Don’t worry, I’ll try not to go this long without posting a blog post again. Thank you for reading, and thank you soooo much for supporting me! I would not be doing all of this without you. 🫶🏻
