Local Refillery - Courtenay, British Columbia

Danni S.

One of my favourite places to go! I love all the choices. But I personally love that I can come in with a jar and just refill it. Going to other stores you buy the glass of whatever you’re buying so that makes more garbage to deal with and recycle. This way is definitely better overall

Laura C.

Great zero-waste store for household products and bulk food. Bring your own containers, or use free, donated jars or compostable paper bags. Lots of vegan items - check the chiller, freezer and deli too. Some fresh produce and bread. Helpful staff. Coffee shop attached.

Kay

This place is incredible. Don’t be intimidated. They have jars and containers to use if you didn’t bring any. They are also willing to help with great customer service. I bought a huge bag of oats and they even carried it to my car for me. Love it! Also you will save money because you usually pay for packaging. So higher quality food and less waste. Win for everyone.

Emily O.

Fantastic selection of foods, bulk items, home goods, toiletries, pet care, drinks, featuring numerous local suppliers. Super friendly staff and surprisingly economical to use your own containers and get excellent products. I highly recommend the laundry concentrate - one bottle lasted me a year and it was only about $20! Soaps, candies, spices, oils, honeys, syrups, pretty much anything you can think of you can get here!

CJ D.

Great place. Their coffee was delicious. The staff was so helpful and gave me a tutorial on how to use their services. Excellent customer service. Some retailers don't emphasize the importance of customer service enough. For me, it is a compelling reason to support a business or not. Shopping at the Local Refillery not only supports local, but supports our efforts to reduce household waste. I recommend this place for anyone who is looking for a coffee, snack or refill household goods.

Alexandria S.

This place is awesome!! Bring your own container to refill or use a donated jar or a deposit switch out jar. Awesome selection of refill soaps and foods - lots of waste reduction products. Good selection and good price. Love the spice shelf. Excited to try my dish soap bar.

Jackson M.

For years my wife and I have talked about how much we dislike all the addition packaging that comes with buying household items and food from the grocery store. We're not extreme environmentalists by any means, but enough is enough, the amount of packaging in almost everything is just unnecessary.

Having recently moved to Courtenay, we heard about the Local Refillery, that aimed to provide quality products with less waste, so we checked it out and are we ever happy we did.

We now shop here at least twice a week buying all our greek yogurt, milk, eggs, tofu, tempeh, salsa, chips, tortillas, and many other things in reusable glass jars. Their jar exchange program is amazing, as you can take new goods in a reused jar or pay a small deposit for a new one, and then bring it back, so the cycle continues.

Not only are we happy to support this local business, we feel good about doing our part to reduce waste, while buying quality products. The staff is very friendly and always ready to help with whatever we need. If you're considering a trip to the Local Refillery, don't hesitate, this place is amazing!

AND they just opened a coffee shop as well. You should check it out!

Foreverblue

Came to visit this store with my Niece recently. Have never seen a store like this before. I think the concept is fantastic I’ll be honest though I was disappointed with what I found. They advertise as a grocer. To me that means they would also have fruit and veg. There was none of this. Given how easy it is to grow amazing fruit and veg on the island and they don’t require packaging I was surprised to find nothing in the store. I was expecting it to be a little more of an environmentally friendly farmers market I guess.

I know the store is new and it seems like they have a good fan base but I would like to see it expand to offer more. It’s great that they are low waste but if people have to drive to multiple stores to get their supplies there is still wast happening.

Keep up the hard work. Next time I’m in the island I’ll check it out again and see what it’s like.