AN ECO refill shop has re-opened in a bigger unit to accommodate the growth of the business.
Lemon and Jinja opened its doors for the first time at Belbins Business Park in Cupernham Lane on Friday, February 3 after leaving its former home at Basepoint in Abbey Park industrial estate.
The new location will be able to fit two and a half times more, including a broader variety of products and a larger kitchen and cafe space.
The move will also provide more opportunities for community groups and fellow businesses to use the premises for events.
READ MORE: Romsey zero waste shop Lemon & Jinja moving to new location
First opening in 2019, the business sells refillable items such as dried fruit, herbs, toiletries and household amenities. Founder Jess Dugdale, 27, said the business outgrew its previous home three years ago and the team have been struggling to find a new base ever since.
The business owner said: “We’ve had people coming in as soon as we opened the door at 9 o’clock. We worried because we’ve been closed for 10 days that we may have been missed by a few people but it seems like everyone was waiting for us to open back up again and we’ve had some new customers too.
“Being based on an industrial estate was a worry when I first started Lemon and Jinja but now that we’re well-established people know about so do travel to see us. We’re a little bit better located here as people can walk to us from the nature reserves surrounding and it’s a lot easier to access from the road.
“We’ve had a lot of obstacles such as the lockdowns and the cost-of-living crisis but we’ve come out bigger and better each time. It’s great to see how we’ve come from nothing and created such a large, brilliant space.
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“We’ve got loads more space to introduce more products. One of the aspects that we’re quite strong on is our service. We did struggle during lockdown but we really strive to serve everyone that comes in. We’ve built such a community around the brand in Romsey and we’ve made friends with all our customers.”
The shop is planning to stock fresh fruit and vegetables, takeaway foods such as salad bowls as well as freezer food like frozen peas for refill.
Lemon and Jinja is open 9am-5pm Monday to Saturday and 10am-4pm on Sundays at Belbins Business Park in Cupernham Lane.
There is free parking based to the right of the premises. To see inside the store and watch the full interview with the founder, click the Romsey Advertiser’s Facebook live video below.
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