Help Keep Springfield's First Refill Shop Open

I knew opening the first refill shop in Springfield, IL would be extremely challenging, as we are asking folks to not only support a small business but also asking consumers to change their behaviors.

Following the fire on Adams Street, and the subsequent moving of the Farmers Market, however, our sales dropped 50-60%. Our Saturday sales, which used to be what kept us afloat during market season are now often less than our slower weekday sales. We signed on to lease this space because of this location, not in spite of it.

We DO NOT WANT TO CLOSE.

We DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE DOWNTOWN.

But as of the last several months, we have been struggling to pay our rent and utilities to keep our doors open.

Nevermind that, also, as a retail location, that also means we do not have the extra funds to continually restock customer favorite / bestselling items. So no, our shelves are not less stocked because business is going so well. Quite the opposite.

As many of you know, we have never crowd funded or asked for donations, fronting this business using 25 years worth of our hard earned money and savings. However, those funds are now depleted.

Our landlords have been nothing if not supportive; however, they too worked hard renovating and restoring our current retail location and cannot change the circumstances we all now find ourselves in.

As you may also know, we did not request financial assistance from the Adams Street Fire fund because so many were directly impacted in devastating losses. There is no other recourse we can see to account for indirect losses due to decreased foot traffic than to ask for help from others who may be in a position to give.

Lower sales means less money remaining after expenses to purchase more inventory. This leads to less inventory and even fewer sales.

Our current fundraising goal is set at an amount to help cover a couple months rent and expenses to open up those funds to enable us to restock inventory. But please know that ANYTHING helps. A $5 or $10 donation, purchasing from our shop, buying tickets to one of our events, an early gift card for Christmas, or even just sharing this GoFundMe.

I am committed to finding a way through this, but what that means may depend on how things go. At this point, we are looking at all options available in order to keep providing our customers with refillable options and programs to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals and minimize single use plastics (and their associated microplastics).

If you believe in what we're doing, too, we appreciate your support, in whatever way you may be able to support us.