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Hello!Bulk Wins Utah Microloan Fund Grant

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Creating a Zero-Waste Grocery Store in Salt Lake City

Owner Jamaica Trinnaman opened Hello!Bulk Markets in 2018 after over a decade in the grocery business and seeing far too much waste. The idea of buying what you needed, like you could in a bulk department, fascinated her and made her want to have access to a store where you could buy all sorts of items that way…not just grocery. She then saw stores like these popping up in the UK and Canada and knew she wanted to bring the concept to Utah. From there, Hello!Bulk Market was born.
 

 

When I opened my doors, people came out of the woodwork, and bit by bit my concept took off. Awards and media attention followed, but we saw that our customers needed time to adjust to this new way of shopping so profitability proved harder to come by. Regardless, year by year we made huge strides and things looked bright. I never could have guessed what the journey would look like.

Sustainable, Local, & Community-Focused

When choosing products to stock in her store, Jamaica wants to have a good selection but has high standards around her sourcing. Some of the questions she and her team consider when selecting products are:

  • Are we offering environmental savings?
  • Are we offering this product in packaging that is reducing additional packaging waste and helping the planet?
  • What local products can we bring in?

 One aspect Jamaica loves is bringing in local products because with local suppliers, you often create a circular system where items are returned, rewashed, and reused, which is the ultimate goal. 

Some of the food products offered include coffee and tea, rice and grains, spices, condiments, cooking oils, beans, seeds and legumes, fresh nut butters, drinks, candy, eggs, yogurt, salsas, and so much more.
Non-food items include hairy and body care items, laundry products, deodorant, and soap. Also offered are the bags, bottles, and jars that you can use to go zero-waste when picking up your necessities. 

Navigating COVID-19 and Uncertain Times

PictureJamaica & team during COVID

When the pandemic hit grocery was considered an essential business so Hello!Bulk was able to stay open, but only under certain guidelines. Jamaica and her team had to change the entire process of their refill store due to a “self-service” ban. This meant having almost twice the staff on-site to accommodate customer orders, which they handled by wiping down their containers with sanitizer, labeling, and filling and by eliminating self-checkout.
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Sadly, those years were compounded by a road construction project that began just as Hello!Bulk started to show profitability and as their model was returning to their pre-COVID routines, a setback to Jamaica that felt like a kick to the gut!

A start-up is always an adventure, but I look back now to see that the majority of my years in business have been Covid years, and that is a very different kind of adventure. We had problem-solved left and right to get through it and taken on debt to do so. Now we faced a loss of revenue due to what felt like a never-ending project. Climbing out of the hole of the past 4 years is going to take time and support.

Hello!Bulk Wins Opportunity Boost Grant from Utah Microloan Fund

Powered by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and orchestrated by the Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development, the Salt Lake City Community Grant Program was created to help small businesses, artists, artisans, and nonprofits grappling with the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Utah Microloan Fund applied for this grant program to enabled us to create the Opportunity Boost Program to benefit our existing clients who needed a little boost to help them grow and stabilize. This is the first grant program of it’s kind for the UMLF as normally we only provide microloans to the small business community. To be able to just give money vs lend it was a big treat for our team!

Eligibility of Small Owners invited to apply for the Opportunity Boost Grant:

  • In business as of March, 23rd 2021.
  • Existing loan client of the Utah Microloan Fund. 
  • Located within Salt Lake City limits.
  • ​A business impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Granted funds fuel a growth plan, with tangible outcomes such as revenue and job growth. 

Jamaica fit the criteria but also exemplified the tenacity, cleverness, and fortitude to survive so many setbacks during her first years of business. When many may have thrown in the towel and given up, Jamaica kept at it and her dedication has proven she can weather any storm. She is also a huge participant in our small business community through her job at the International Rescue Committee
(IRC) but also her involvement in local events. 

The Future of Hello!Bulk

With the $10,000 in funds from UMLF’s Opportunity Boost Grant, Jamaica is ready to take on the future. The grant has assisted her in recovering from the financial distress of the pandemic by funding marketing efforts to help spread the good word of sustainability-focused shopping and to bolster her inventory to improve with products being out of stock. With the help of this grant Jamaica hopes to offer a customer experience similar to pre-Covid days and grow the business in the ways she and her team initially imagined.
Grateful For Help Along the Way

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Regardless of the setbacks of being a small business in SLC right now, I completely value the support of the city programs (especially the staff). There are so many people out there doing the best they can with what they have. People fighting to save these small businesses that have made it through Covid and deserve to be a part of a brighter future. And I don’t think a day goes by that a customer, in the market, doesn’t tell me how grateful they are to have Hello!Bulk. It’s hard to think of closing when we feel so much love around us. 
The Utah Microloan has also helped me by altering the terms of the loan when I could not make the payments. When I have come to UMLF for help it has never felt like anything but a supportive environment. Good people trying their best to help.

Planning Your Visit to the Market

​The idea of a zero-waste grocery store is to do away with wasteful packaging that cannot be reused or recycled. Jamaica’s advice?
1) Start small: Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to go “zero waste” overnight. Pick one or two items you can commit to refilling.
2) Just check it out. Most people don’t even bring their containers the first time! There are paper bags for free and you can always just grab a few gummy bears.

To learn more about the process check out Hello!Bulk’s How It Works page. 

Shop at Hello!Bulk Market

PictureLaundry items, bags and more.

Hours of Operation:

  • Monday: Closed
  • Tuesday: 11AM – 7PM
  • Wednesday: 11AM – 7PM
  • Thursday: 11AM – 7PM
  • Friday:  11AM – 7PM
  • Saturday: 11AM – 7PM
  • Sunday: 11AM – 7PM


Address: 1185 S 300 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
​Web:  www.hellobulkmarkets.com
FB:  www.facebook.com/hellobulkmarkets
Insta: www.instagram.com/hellobulkmarkets​

Hello!Bulk also has a smaller version of the market in a shared market space, located at approximately 2100 S and 2100 E in the Neighborhood Hive.

You can also shop online at https://hellobulk.myshopify.com/ where local customers can arrange for delivery or pickup. Online you can pre-order items and have them ready for pickup, packaged in paper bags and glass containers that are returnable for a deposit.

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