A Re-Imagined Store: Now Open in Canmore

In early November, we opened the doors to a whole new concept to retail. The concept of ‘how much old stuff can we pull out of the landfill or from our workshop and reuse to make a funky and fun new store’.

As part of the renovation, we put an extreme objective in place. One we felt was paramount to our core purpose of removing toxins from the world. The vision for this store is that it is a completely toxin-free and earth-friendly environment. In a world full of toxic laquers, paints, finishings and furniture…hows THAT for a challenge?

We made resolution early in the planning stages to avoid a ‘red-list’ of the toxins typically found in the construction of a store. Every material we used is toxin-free and either reusable, reclaimed, recyclable or compostable. We also wanted to make sure that no parts of the store will ever end up in a landfill, after all, we’d literally just pulled some parts of the store OUT of the landfill.

We had fun scrounging up materials such as reclaimed wood from a barn in Manitoba, amber glass beer bottles for light fixtures, and ingredient containers such as tin olive oil cans  and drums which were given new life as eco-chic chandeliers. We searched for antiques to use for cabinetry, and avoided virgin flooring, we just diamond ground the concrete floor that was already there. We also dug a hole down through the store floor and into the soil below to make home for a beautiful fig tree which we’ve affectionately dubbed ‘The Lorax’. American Clay on the walls and the living wall at the rear of the store help to purify the air while the living wall on the store-front adds a festive and natural header with its red berries and evergreen seedlings.

We invite you to come visit this ‘new/old’ store to enjoy a completely worry-free shopping experience. We’ve had some comments that most newly renovated stores have a toxic ‘paint-fumey’ scent, but ours didn’t have a smell at all. That is until we moved in about two million tonnes of soap. We’d so love to hear what you think the next time you’re in for a visit! Write to us at info@rockymountainsoap.com.