The Bulk House Announces Closure of Gulou Shop, Vows to Carry On Zero Waste Fight Online
Much to the dismay of zero waste crusaders across town, socially conscious entrepreneurs Carrie Yu and Joe Harvey announced that their zero waste store, The Bulk House, will close its doors for good on Wednesday, Mar 20. In a WeChat post announcing the closure, they also mentioned plans to host a Mar 16 closing party (details forthcoming).
READ: Making Conservation Fun With Zero Waste Founder Bea Johnson
This is not the first time that The Bulk House has shut its doors. Yu and Harvey first set up shop at 258 Electronics Market in Maizidian in 2017 after gaining traction with their environmentally friendly wares at the weekly Farm 2 Neighbors market. Yet before long, they were ousted along with many other 258 vendors when management for the building announced that it would be closing for renovation. Despite the shock and financial loss, they wasted no time in securing the Gulou Dongdajie address. As Harvey put it in an interview for the November-December 2018 issue of the Beijinger: "We signed the contract on the Friday night, threw a load of furniture in here, and the next day we said, ‘Right, we gotta start paying the rent,’ and opened up."
Since opening their store on Gulou Dongdajie, the ambitious couple have sold chic, reusable items like organic cotton mesh bags, metal straws, and natural cosmetics to a steadily growing customer base. Their goal was to help consumers cut down on environmentally harmful trash, while also hosting educational events to spread the ethos of zero waste, a movement that is gaining traction with mindful consumers around the world.
While the closure of the bright and airy Gulou store is disappointing, for avid readers of the Beijinger, this business pivot may not come as such of a surprise. Harvey had previously mentioned the difficulties of staying managing a bricks-and-mortar store while also growing a healthy (and stable) e-commerce base and getting their zero-waste products into the hands of consumers.
When asked about the closure of the store, Yu told the Beijinger: "Of course we are very sad about closing the store. But, we have thought carefully about what is the best thing to do to make the most positive impact on the environment. And it will come as no surprise that putting more energy into the online part of a business will reach a wider audience than offline."
Their closure announcement ended on an upbeat note: “In the future, we will also hold some fresh and interesting activities, such as pop-up stores, swap events, composting workshops and whatever wonderful ideas may pop into our brains.”
Read their announcement (and its numerous fun, unwieldy zero waste anecdotes) in full here.
Want to learn more about how to maintain a zero-waste lifestyle? Click here.
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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
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Photos courtesy of The Bulk House
