Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Jurrens.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As 2020 taught us, we’re all in this together. We need to be taking care of our community and the world around us. By offering low-waste alternatives at an affordable price, by being a resource for our neighbors on sustainable practices, and by supporting local makers, we believe we can make a valuable contribution to building a stronger community and a healthier planet.
Our family started in St. Paul, moved to a remote area in North West Ontario, and are now happy to have found the best of both worlds by landing in the very walkable farming community of Plainview, MN. After being home with our kids and having foster kids, Annie felt like it was time to go back to work. Having small kiddos in the middle of a childcare crisis, a typical 9-5 job seemed untenable. So we decided it was time to start creating something we had always talked about, our own business!
We have had a hard time finding commercial space in Plainview, so we have been working on renovating a house into a commercial space.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Finding a space was hard. We rented a small room in the back of Young Love Floral but knew we wanted more space. We moved houses and had to work with the city to rezone the house we moved out of so we could operate a business out of it without living in it. Then we need to submit a conditional use permit which got approved three days before we had our grand re-opening in the new space!
We thought there would be some financial help for small businesses getting started. We have worked with the Small Business Development Center and SMIF, which has been helpful, but we wish we would have known when starting a business that there aren’t much for loans for small businesses unless you’ve already been in business for at least two years. It makes sense to us now, it’s just something we didn’t realize.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Refill Goods?
We are a low-waste general store. We are a supplier of plastic-free, eco-friendly household items, toys, and gifts. We have products in bulk so that people can come and fill up their containers out of our supply, reducing costs and unnecessary packaging. We have laundry detergent, dishwasher powder, and some soaps, and we are hoping to expand into food products (flour, sugar, tea, spices, etc.) this next year.
We pride ourselves on sourcing as many items as we can from local makers. We prioritize local, eco-friendly, and women-owned businesses. We also consign with local artists and makers who fit what we’re doing. We have a local farmer who supplies us with beeswax wraps, a woodworker, and a macrame artist, along with many others. We highlight these local makers on our website and through our social media.
We are also proudly and loudly queer affirming and feminist. In small-town Minnesota, this is not the norm, but we’re so happy to be a safe space in a rural town.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Just start. Everything takes time and you don’t have to be polished or an expert to begin. We have been operating out of our space for almost 9 months now and our trim isn’t finished, I used the wrong paint on the floor, and no one cares. People have enjoyed seeing the progress and watching our space come together.
We share the journey a lot on social media and it has been so fun to have people cheering us on. We call each year a Practice Year and each event is also just practice. We take notes on how things went and then plan to adjust the next time around. Just start.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.refillgoods.shop
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/refillgoods
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/refillgoods/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RefillGoods
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@refillgoods
Image Credits
Becca Haugen of Twelve Ten Photography
