Well hey there friends and neighbours!

I thought I would take a moment to share some thoughts on our re-opening and fill you in on how things are going.

Like all of you, we are desperate for life and business to return to the way it was; the daily buzz of customers in the store is missed. Sadly, we have no idea when that way of life will be allowed again, and so we are in discussions about how to adjust in the interim.
There are many questions for us to answer. Our entire business is predicated on our customers bringing in their own containers and refilling them themselves. (Of course, we're always happy to help when needed, though we know how much you actually love doing the filling yourselves!) With Alberta Health not allowing bulk stations to be open (and I suspect this will be one of the last restrictions lifted), this raises a whole new batch of questions around how our business operates.

Maintaining a Circular Economy

Every day, customers ask us if they can bring their own containers for us to refill. Every day we're saying no, and it’s heartbreaking. Our solution through this has been to implement a well-received jar deposit program. We're able to maintain a circular economy by putting jars out to you with products in them, and when they are returned to us they are cleaned, sterilized, and filled back up again. This process has been fantastic and allows us to know that we are still not creating additional waste by using plastic containers. For our herbs, we package those into recycled (and recyclable) paper bags that are stamped (no more plastic labels on them for us!) and we feel this is an acceptable alternative for our local customers at the moment.

Are We Re-opening? And If So... When?

So, to the important question! We are currently looking at a mid-June soft re-opening. We don’t have an exact date yet, however we will release that as soon as we have it.

What will that look like? Well, here are some things that we are exploring:

Curbside + Delivery will be going strong! 

We ask that if you are able to shop online and utilize our Pick Up or Delivery services that you continue to do so. This is our preferred method of getting product to you.

Booking by Appointment

We will be releasing an online booking system where you will be able to book a 30 minute in-store shopping appointment! This will be limited (to begin with) to four customers every 30 minutes.

Masks*

We will require that anyone in the building (staff or customer) wear a mask. No exceptions. We will not have disposable masks at the door. We will have our Colibri facemasks for sale, however! You will be refused entry without a mask (even to “pop in quickly” to purchase one item).

Hand Sanitizing*

We will have a sani-station with a staff member at the front door when you enter. All customers will have their hands sprayed.

Refilling your Jars (this is a biggie!)

We will be refilling your containers! Hooray! That said, your containers must be empty, sparkling clean, and dry*. We reserve the right to refuse any container that does not meet this standard. When you arrive, you will be walked through our in-house jar sanitization protocol before we refill your containers for you. More on this to come.

Personal Shopping Assistant!

When you arrive for your in-store appointment, you will be assigned your own staff member (yowza, one-on-one service!). This team member will help you with anything you need, from trying testers (even Elate!), to grabbing items off the shelves for your basket (you’ll be shopping with your eyes, not your hands), and answering any questions you may have.

No Groups, and No Children

Like other businesses, we are going to be asking that only one person arrives for your in-store shopping appointment. We are also asking (not requiring) that you not bring children into the store. It can be very difficult to ensure a little one keeps their hands to themselves when shopping. We hope you understand that we cannot have this happening for a while. If you do need to bring a child in, we ask that they are carried during your visit and you respect our wishes that they not touch anything.

No Customer Washroom

Many of you are used to zipping upstairs if you need to use the washroom. When our doors re-open, we will not be allowing customers upstairs to use our public washroom.

* = Zero-Tolerance

We will be implementing rules that we believe are the right ones for us to conduct business with our front doors open. We need you to follow them, and if you are asked to leave the store, we will do everything we can to help you complete your order via phone or online. Any kind of abuse towards our hard-working staff will not be tolerated.

We hope that this fills you in a bit on where we’re at and what we are thinking about. As always, if you have any questions, comments, thoughts, witty jokes, etc., we’d love to hear them. We are here for you!

We are looking forward to seeing your smiling (masked) faces in our shoppe so you may breathe in all the smells, feel the awesome energy, and take a moment to have your own experience here. We miss you!

Jill xo