All is Good sustainable store aims to be bigger and better

An eco-friendly retail business is calling on customers and supporters to help it upgrade its popular refill and zero waste shop.

All is Good, based in Penistone, South Yorkshire, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the investment it needs to expand the refill section of its community store, making it more accessible, user-friendly, and cost-effective.

Green ‘dragons’ – or eco-investors – from across the community are being asked to support the development by ‘pledging’ an investment of any amount to help the business reach its target of £18,000.

This will allow the shop to buy 18 giant 200-litre barrels of household and cleaning products; extend its rack of zero-waste dispensers for dried food; and expand its range of reduced-waste frozen food.

Investors will then get all their money back, in terms of value of goods in-store with an extra 10 percent on top for all pledges above £20, and rewards such as coffee, cake and exclusive offers thrown in too.

Karen Close, who set up ‘All is Good Yorkshire’ with business partner Leanne Gill in October 2021, said: “Sales have grown and grown in our refill section, and we’ve wanted to invest in making it bigger and better for a while now but have been stuck because of the cost of the initial outlay.

“This is fabulous way to help our us cover our costs upfront and we will be very grateful for any support that existing and potential customers would like to give us.

“We love that we’ll then be able to pay everyone back, in full, through products and rewards. It will be our way of saying thank you for believing in, and supporting, our green business. It’s a win-win for everyone and we are very excited about this development.”

Karen turned to crowdfunding after talking to Save The High Street, which is working with Barnsley Council to support community shops across the borough. They introduced her to OurPledge, a specialist sustainable business consultancy which supports green start-ups and SMEs across the UK.

CEO of OurPledge Rachael Castell said: “Businesses like All is Good which champion zero waste shopping are the vanguard of the retail sector’s future. They’re pioneering more sustainable models of delivery and packaging; and exploring alternatives to the supermarket norm.

“Anyone who pledges to support All is Good’s crowdfunder will see very good returns on their investment for themselves, in terms of receiving a higher value of product on account, and also for the planet in terms of helping along a sustainable business in their own community.”

OurPledge has worked in partnership with crowdfunding platform Crowd0 to set up the All is Good Bigger and Better campaign which launched on June 13th and runs for six weeks.

The crowdfunder will enable the shop to purchase 18 200-litre barrels of product such as shampoo and conditioner, washing-up liquid and floor cleaner, from its supplier Fill/Refill Co. These better-value barrels will replace smaller ones, cut the number of deliveries needed and enable the business to cut its carbon footprint, keep prices down and create a more clutter-free environment with improved access for wheelchairs and pushchairs. More user-friendly pumps on the larger barrels will also make them ‘self-service’ so that customers, and young families in particular, can refill their own bottles.

No money will be taken from investors until the £18,000 target is reached, and the development gets the go-ahead. All pledges will be redeemable in full against future purchases across the store, with extra rewards.

All is Good sells locally-sourced food, arts, crafts and gifts; ethical brands and environmentally-friendly goods, as well as refill and zero waste goods. Its refill area has grown from a four-metre square corner of the shop to a 40m square room of its own in just 18 months.

Karen said: “Since opening, we’ve increased the number of refill products we stock from five to 20, doubled the number of zero waste dry goods we sell and added refillable wine, gin and rapeseed oil to our range. Our customers have really embraced this new way of shopping which shuns single-use plastic packaging and helps reduce so much of the waste prevalent in conventional shopping. We look forward to investing in growth.”

Penistone Against Plastic Pollution Community Lead Chris Leak said: “This is fantastic news for Penistone and we’d like to encourage as many people as possible to back this crowdfunding initiative to help All is Good make their zero waste, plastic-free, refill shopping area bigger and better.”