Owner wants a network within the business community to educate people on how to start up these businesses
Wonderfill Refillery (WR), a retail shop where customers purchase bulk household goods by the ounce, bringing their own containers or selecting from the store’s upcycled options, opened in the summer in Cookeville and is the seventh of its kind in Cookeville.
Located at 17 W. Spring Street (just one street over from the historic West Side), the zero-waste refill store was founded by Moss, TN native Cora Hageman. She told City Current that her upbringing was a significant factor in her decision to start WR.
“I was raised around a lot of the back-to-the-earth families,” she said. “You could say a hippie community, if you will. And that just puts you in the mindset of, not just the environment and the land and what you are using, but the products you are consuming as well.”
For the entire interview, click HERE.
Hageman says she transitioned into wildlife and fisheries conservation before pivoting toward a business major in college.
“And have just found a way, over the years, to just mesh those two together in such a meaningful way,” she said. “Just bring my childhood values to my career.”
It was no surprise, according to Hagemann, that she would one day open a storefront. She has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. As a child, she would collect small crystals to sell to festivalgoers, earning money for the larger crystals she truly desired. Now, she sells crystals in her brick-and-mortar.
The circle of life.
Along with crystals, WR sells products such as shampoos, conditioners and laundry soaps. Buy by weight. Hageman says she finds it her personal responsibility to keep plastic out of the storefront.
“We are trying to find a way for people to get their everyday essentials without having to buy single use packaging,” Hageman said. “And it’s been going very well so far. We have just been accepted with open arms by our community here in Cookeville.”
The company’s website explains the process. Check it out HERE.
From the website:
“Our mission is to serve not only Cookeville but also the entire Upper Cumberland region.”
What’s next, according to Hageman?
“Surviving the next 12 months,” she said. “There are a lot of statistics out there about not being able to survive your first 12 months. This is a college town and a growing “miniopolis” area, and I don’t believe what people say that Tennessee and the South are not sustainable. I just think we are sustainable; the resources aren’t accessible. We are just trying to make things accessible, slowly grow in a way that isn’t going to hinder us. Even though it’s just me, I can do quite a bit if I do so at a steady pace.”
That’s the short-term plans. As for the long term, Hageman wants stores like these to open in small towns. She wants a network within the business community to educate people on how to start up these businesses.
“Small towns are what make up a lot of our states throughout the country,” she said.
Hageman has shared this journey with her customers online through social media and the website.
“My hope is that Wonderfill becomes a space where people feel welcome, inspired and seen. A place that reflects what community is all about, support, sustainability and showing up for each other,” she shared.
For more information, call 931-651-1397, email wonderfillrefillery@gmail.com, hang out @wonderfillrefillery or visit them HERE.
Image via Wonderfill.
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