// Eco-living store opens on South Molton Street promoting sustainable living
// Initiative in partnership with landlord Grosvenor to reinvent department store
A 6,000 sq ft department store with a focus on sustainability, called The Good Store, has opened on South Molton Street in Mayfair, London.
The store carries a selection of sustainable products and brands across clothing, accessories, health and beauty, furniture, homeware, tech and books.
The concept has been created by Groundwork London, one of a group of charities “mobilising practical community action on poverty and the environment”, which has a partnership with the South Molton Street property owner Grosvenor.
The Good Store has an emphasis on reuse and refurbishment, with a range of plastic-free and sustainably sourced products on offer, plus educational events and services to guide consumers.
Established vintage and second-hand clothing charity Traid has an in-store section, alongside upcycled and sustainable clothing brands such as Elvis and Kresse, which produces sustainable bags and accessories made out of reclaimed materials, including from old fire-brigade hose, Been London, which uses sustainable leather, and Wyatt & Jack which produce items from broken bouncy castles.
Plastic-free and sustainable brands within the store also include Waterhaul, which makes sunglasses from plastic retrieved from Cornwall’s coastline, and there’s UpCircle’s refillable beauty products made from used coffee grounds.
The furniture department within the store features Jay&Co, the restoration furniture business of Jay Blades, TV presenter of the BBC’s ‘Repair Shop’, which sits alongside social enterprise ThinkFound, which source hardwood fallen or felled in London.
READ MORE: The Crown Estate to launch sustainability pop-up on London’s Regent Street
The Good Store also features furniture from Groundwork’s own workshops, The Loops, as well as access to high quality refurbished bicycles by Westminster Wheels, and premium refurbished white goods by Groundwork’s Rework employment programme.
Fiona Brenner, strategic development manager at Groundwork London, said: “We could see that people have a strong desire for more sustainable options but the onus sits with the individual to go out and find them. We wanted to bring together these choices to show the breadth and depth of the developing sustainable market and traditional attitudes to reuse and repair in a way that creates an easy and enjoyable shopping experience.
“All profits will support our social reuse programmes, from which The Good Store was created, so that waste can be brought back to life by our teams and items provided to those who need them.”
Joanna Lea, retail director at Grosvenor, added: “The Good Store is an exciting retail concept providing a route to market for high quality sustainable products, improving London’s circular economy and supporting social enterprises.”
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