The Rural We: Nicole Clanahan
Thanks to the Clanahans, there's an easy way to shop in an environmentally sustainable way.
Full disclosure: Nicole Clanahan happens to be Chronogram Media’s finance manager. But, go-getter that she is, it doesn’t really surprise us that has just opened a business with her husband Corey — a concept that we predict is going to change the way the community in and around Pine Plains shops for essential items. The Rural Center Refillery is a bulk refill store that encourages people to be environmentally conscious in part by bringing in their own containers from home. The store carries everything from coffee and tea to toothpaste tabs, cleaning products and pet shampoo, so bring your container and fill up. “We want to make it easy to do the right thing,” Nicole says.
I’m from Lagrange, and Corey is from Virginia. We live in Stanfordville with our two kids. We like the feel of the small town and felt it was important to have our business in the community. Corey comes from a retail management background, and I’m a bookkeeper. We wanted to come up with a business together that would put both our skills to use and do something environmentally sustainable for this community that we’re crazy about. We can’t change the world, but we can do little things that can spin people in a positive direction. Rural Center Refillery seemed like a perfect thing to do.
It's a new concept to stock bulk foods that come into the store without excessive packaging, and then go out with customers who bring their own containers from home. People can fill up their reusable packaging for coffee, beans, soup mixes…anything that has to be heated. For other things, like candy and nuts, we sell jars at the store, and when people bring back the empty jar, we do a jar swap, giving them a fresh one. There’s no cost to the consumer apart from the first-time fee.
The center carries a lot of awesome goods — cleaning and body care products, coffee and tea, nuts, rice, and beans, much of it from local providers. There are also reusable containers for sale. We’re trying to work with brands that are closed-loop, where we can ship the box back. We’re mindful on how companies package their goods, and that impacts our decision on what we sell.
We started with 30 eight-gallon canisters, and we’re already at capacity. We don’t want to be a specialty store; we want to sell you what you’re going to get anyway, but with less packaging, at an attainable price. You can still indulge in bulk m&ms, but without the excess packaging. It’s a small step each of us can take, but it leads to a much bigger impact together.
We liked the location because it’s right in front of the high school and in a plaza with a liquor and wine store. When people walk in, it like they’re coming into our house. They have questions because it’s a brand-new concept and that allows us to get to know each other better, encouraging that small-town feeling. It feels like we’re all just hanging out together.
Rural Center Refillery isn’t only for eco-warriors. No one doesn’t want to be environmentally responsible, so we’re trying to make it easy to do the right thing. The more choices we have, the more likely people will feel comfortable.
