14/10/2024
To our wonderful community: it is with great sadness that after nearly 5 years, we are announcing the closure of The Package Free Larder 😭
We understand that this may come as a shock, but maybe not a surprise if you have been shopping with us recently, and despite our best efforts, we have exhausted all options with the resources we have. Increases in operating costs and stock prices, alongside a lack of resources and funding that would be required to drive new initiatives, have taken their toll, and the store is no longer sustainable financially. Also, given the amount of funding we would require to get the business running again, and without being able to guarantee the success of any strategies in the long term, we feel it would be unethical to seek external funding in any form that wouldn’t compromise the ethos and organisational methods that the store exemplifies.
We’d like to thank the countless number of people who have given their time and donated towards this community project; although we are devastated to close our store, we are extremely proud of all we have achieved and we are leaving with our heads high.
As a team, and a community, we have had the opportunity to learn and inspire change in a world where shopping is still so fast-paced and disposable. We can only hope that we have created a hub where a broad and diverse community of like-minded people can connect, share stories, and gain skills, and that we have also become a safe space for all members of our community, regardless of background or identity. And, finally, we hope that being a part of this wonderful community has been as fulfilling an experience for you as it has been for all of us here at PFL.
👉 What happens next?
Our last day of trading will be Sunday 10th November, and we’ll update you with plans to sell off our remaining stock as and when we have the relevant information to pass on. As a team of staff and volunteers, our main focus now is to ensure that when we close we’ve cleared off all our supplier, VAT, and other debts, and in order to ensure this is possible we will need your help to spread the word far and wide. We’ll share more details as and when we are able to.
Although the PFL will cease to trade on November 10th, we may need to retain the space for longer due to contractual obligations with our landlord. We are currently deliberating over our options regarding this, and once we have concrete information we will be in touch to explain our next steps in this area.
In the next week or so, we are hoping to ask you to engage in one final pay-up-front bulk order so you can get whatever essentials you may require, and also help facilitate us purchasing some additional stock that will see us through to closure and help us meet our financial obligations. If you’d like to place a bulk order with us before we close, please enquire in-store or by emailing [email protected].
And finally, due to our financial circumstances and our need to maximise return in order to pay suppliers etc, we are also ending all discounts (memberships, student etc) effective immediately; we hope you understand our need to do this.
To be frank, this is an incredibly difficult time for everyone involved in the store, and we’re sure that this will impact yourselves as customers, too. Trying to process the necessary decision, that none of us wanted to make, is going to be painful. And we hope that once the store has been brought to a close, we can arrange some form of get together to discuss possible future plans that we can act upon as a community.
Hopefully we can, as a community, continue to embody the slogan “We don’t need one person doing zero waste perfectly, we need a community of people doing it imperfectly”, and we will endeavour to find ways for us to continue the legacy of what we have created here at the store, and utilise the valuable lessons and skills learned as we move forward.
Thank you all so very much for all of your custom, support, and love over the years. It has been an incredible journey building this community, and we’re very proud to have been able to get to know you all so well over the last four and a bit years. Come say bye though, innit, or we’ll be well sad!!
Lots of love, everyone at The Package Free Larder x
