eco + amour: A new concept shop in Canada combines green beauty and sustainable retail
All across the Americas region and around the world, green and clean beauty enthusiasts are opening retail shops to ensure that local consumers have access to these niche and often small beauty brands. There’s Shop / Good in San Diego, California; Bond Clean Beauty in Sydney, Australia; online marketplaces like Good Cubed; and later this year the clean beauty discovery platform Beauty Heroes will open its first brick-and-mortar location. (Learn more in this recent Cosmetics Design video interview with Beauty Heroes founder Jeannie Jarnot.)
Open for business
eco + amour is one of the newest such green beauty retail shops to open. On September 5, the new store hosted an opening event to welcome Toronto-area consumers and showcase the refillable beauty format--a hands-on approach that lets consumers, passionate about the environment, feel directly involved in a sustainability solution.
Food trends often influence consumers’ expectations about beauty. And here eco + amour is a case in point. “Toronto has a diverse selection of bulk food shops,” notes a media release about the new shop, “but the beauty and self-care categories are trailing far behind. eco + amour wants to help people achieve their goals of low-impact living by offering a one-stop shop for self-care and home cleaning needs.”
Sold by weight
“We’re thrilled to offer the GTA a destination where they can shop these everyday necessities in a sustainable way. Our goal is to reduce plastic waste and move towards eliminating excess packaging altogether,” Sarah Marcus, one of three eco + amour shop founders, tells the press.
Most beauty products available at eco + amour are sold by weight. And shoppers either bring in clean, dry containers to fill or buy reusable bottles or jars at the shop.
The store hopes to become a go-to destination for beauty and home care. “Our refill stations will stock everything from shampoo to bath soaks to face masks and home cleaners from a variety of amazing green brands,” says founder Julianne Robicheau, adding, “We’ll also carry other eco items, most of which are reusable and biodegradable.”
Robicheau is also the founder of Robi Luxury Skin Care, one of the brands available at eco + amour (and featured here on the Indie Beauty Profile).
Other personal care and cosmetics brands sold at the shop include Bathorium, Cosmic Tree Essentials, Graydon Skincare, Lines of Elan, and Sapadilla.
---
Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.
