Archive

New owners take over Orangeville’s Village Refillery

January 22, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

It’s funny how life sometimes takes a circuitous route.

Bruna Zarlenga, the founder of Village Refillery in Orangeville, is well aware of how there are times when you end up right back to where you started, despite the various events that cause life’s hiccups.

Events like a late-night fire at the building that houses your business.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Zarlenga said. “It seems like the Refillery is here to stay because all the challenges it has endured.”

Environmentally conscious, sustainable shopping in Orangeville took a hit in August 2022. And Zarlenga had somewhat of a difficult go at recovering from the fire that took out 18 Mill Street businesses in the Old Mill Hub (former Mill Street Mall).

“It was a very difficult year for us,” she said. “Coming out of the fire and it was a slow year for business.”

But the picture is a little rosier now that she’s sold the Village Refillery to new ownership.

Even getting the sale done was a trial. As the new owners were about to sign before Christmas, the building’s landlord asked them for six months’ rent up front, Zarlenga said.

That’s an ask of $12,000.

That meant the Refillery had to be moved from that post-fire location.

“My buyers were willing to pay the first and last (months’ rent),” she said. “I spent a lot of my own money renovating the place that we were at.”

Zarlenga said she sunk as much as $20,000 into those renovations. And it took about three weeks for her to reopen at the location.

The new owners had to move everything out of the 5 Mill Street space by the beginning of December. And Zarlenga said that was unfortunate because the Village Refillery missed out on any Christmas sales.

“But we were forced to move out and I had to bring the whole store to my house,” she said.

The sale has been finalized and has relocated yet again.

It’s back at the previous, pre-fire Old Mill Hub location.

Full circle. Somewhat arduous, but it has come back around. A grand opening is planned for later in January, Zarlenga said.

But she isn’t done with the Refillery. She’ll be working there on a part-time basis.

“I’m no longer the owner, but I’m definitely helping them,” she said. “And I’m now working for them.”

And her involvement will extend to continuing the Vintage Village clothing store.

The clothing industry is responsible for tonnes of global waste. The fashion industry is responsible for 10 per cent of carbon emissions each year worldwide and uses 93 billion cubic metres of water. 

It produces as many as 100 billion garments annually, and as many as 92 million tonnes of clothes end up in landfills. With nearly 60 per cent of all clothing material being plastic, purchasing vintage and quality fabrics is one way to offset your environmental impact when acquiring clothing.

The store is tailored to women but has a few pieces for men.

“I’m excited to be able to still be a part of the refillery because it’s a passion project,” she said. “I’m very happy that it’s staying open in town because people really rely on it.

“We really saw that when we had to close for a couple of months.”

While it is one thing to contribute less trash, it’s another positive thing to generate less recyclables.

Zarlenga said recyclers are overwhelmed with materials, so some of them don’t get recycled. Only 9 per cent of plastic waste in Canada is actually recycled, according to the federal government.

That’s why reusing some things like containers is an effective environmental step.

“Once you start refilling it (recyclable containers), start reusing it, it becomes extremely hard to throw things out with the garbage,” she said. “You just want to be able to reuse it.”

Zarlenga figures as many as 30,000 bottles have been diverted from the recycling process just from her own household.

“I know with my own garbage and recycling, we barely put any out when the Refillery is open,” she said.

Readers Comments (0)