LAUNCH OF THE STORE; NANTWICH’S FIRST PLASTIC-FREE MOBILE SHOP!
The Store is a new and exciting social enterprise initiative, based in South Cheshire which was officially launched this morning in Nantwich Town Centre.
The Store van has been completely refitted to provide a convenient, simple and affordable way of buying budget-friendly, branded and eco-friendly Groceries, Toiletries and Home Supplies – all without plastic!
Karen Makin the Founder of the enterprise, explained; “we’re local people who have set up The Store to provide residents in Nantwich and the surrounding villages a practical way to help tackle the ‘plastic crisis’ and reduce the single-use plastic waste in our area”.
“We are supporting other local initiatives such as Plastic Free Nantwich, The Food Bank and The Pledge and by offering a mobile and highly local shopping experience, we aim to be carbon neutral enabling customers to purchase only what they need and reducing car usage.
The Store Truck has been kitted out with special scales, dispensers and shelving and is able to offer over 400 items including dry goods (such as pasta and rice), toiletries and cleaning products. All are available without plastic packaging and whilst customers will be able to hire or purchase sustainable packaging from us, ideally customers will bring their own bags, containers and bottles to be filled and refilled on the Store Truck!
The Store will be visiting the Wards of South Cheshire and so Local Ward Councillors attended the launch with Nantwich Mayor Arthur Moran, (armed with their re-usable containers) to give The Store their whole-hearted support!
Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury Ward) explained; “The Store is based in my Ward and is such an innovative way of addressing the modern problem of single-use plastics with what many will remember as the traditional method of shopping just a couple of generations ago! I am delighted with my purchases and the quality is easily as good as what I would normally buy from the supermarket. This may seem a small venture but the queues of people waiting to get in, suggests that people really do want to change the ways in which they impact on our fragile planet.”
Cllr Peter Groves (Nantwich South & Stapeley) was delighted to find he could buy his usual brand of hot chocolate - but without the plastic packaging! “This is a great initiative with a really wide range of products at very reasonable prices. I see that The Store will be calling in at a number of venues around Stapeley and Nantwich over the course of each week and I recommend that residents pop in, take a look and take your bags and containers with you!”
The STORE van has a timetable of weekly stops around South Cheshire and local support for the project has been overwhelmingly positive - already attracting over 2,000 residents with CW postcodes to their mailing list - and don’t worry about fuel emissions, the van is run on Green Fuel!
If you have any questions about The Store or would like any further information please contact Karen Makin:
Tel: 07811 349318 E: [email protected] W: www.thestorenantwich.co.uk
