By: Catherine Daleo
Reading time: 3 minutes

The pandemic has presented interesting challenges to environmentalism, with more single-use products being used and take-out becoming more popular. One local waste-free shop, Minimal Market, has found new ways to address the plastic crisis during COVID and still achieve one of their main goals – open a physical storefront. 

Minimal Market is a woman-owned, independent business that strives to “inspire conscious consumption through local, sustainable hand-crafted goods” and has provided sustainable alternatives for everyday-living since the summer of 2017 when Brie Lujan and Alex Hamilton founded it. 

When the pandemic hit early this year, it hit the Minimal Market team hard, with Lujan saying that it was initially like they had the wind knocked out of them, adding that they were working on launching their storefront, growing their business and expanding their services. 

“It wasn’t long into the pandemic until we realized that we were still going to push towards those goals,” Lujan said, adding that despite things looking different, they’ve still been able to achieve those goals this year.

The pandemic has not only been a challenge for managing the business, but a challenge for managing their mental health and taking care of their families while also keeping the store running and preparing for their store launch. 

To manage this juggling act, Lujan said that they’ve been managing by Facetiming, having “driveway-distanced” hangouts, creating and exploring their hobbies and playing Animal Crossing. 

“We’ve had our ups and downs personally this year, but we’re thankful to have each other to lean on and keep each other motivated when we’re feeling down,” Lujan said,

As a business, Lujan shared that they’ve been fortunate enough to have a community that’s passionate about the planet and have continued supporting the business throughout the year. After launching local delivery in January this year, they adapted to be fully online and still implemented their “milk-man style delivery service” during the pandemic. 

“We’re grateful for our customers who were willing to make the switch with us in how we provide essentials like laundry detergent, hand soap, shampoo and conditioner,” Lujan said, adding that they’ve been able to offer contactless doorstep delivery and continue helping customers reduce their waste through Minimal Market’s ‘Jar Return’ program for its refillable products. Jars are collected, sanitized, refilled and reused. 

“We feel deeply thankful that despite this year’s challenges, we’re still able to achieve our goal for 2020 by opening the first zero-waste refillery in Nevada on December 5th!” 

On Small Business Saturday, Minimal Market rolled out new products to preview what they’re adding to their store set to open next Saturday. 

These products include floss, shaving soap, and new refill products such as face wash and Castille soap. A new partnership is also being introduced with a local vendor who provides reusable cotton rounds.

Moving forward, Lujan said that she and Hamilton are overall optimistic about things, sharing that they have a “great customer base” who are eager to bring their own containers for in-person refills again, which is how Minimal Market used to operate at the pop-up events they previously did, like Market in the Alley. 

In the meantime, they are continually adapting their business model and working to keep customer safety their top priority. 

“We’re hopeful that as the world continues to change, we’ll be able to rise to the challenge and find creative solutions that keep our community hopeful,” Lujan said. “At the core of environmentalism, hope is extremely important to the mission of conservation, ethical consumption and protecting the planet for future generations.”  

Minimal Market will continue to provide their contactless doorstep delivery service and will soon offer free in-store pickup at their storefront, where customers will be able to refill their personal containers as well. The store will have a reduced capacity for in-store shopping, based on the state’s COVID-19 guidelines, and is subject to change. 

Learn more about Minimal Market and their new refillery store on their website https://minimalmarketlv.com/, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram (@minimalmarketlv).

You can also contact Minimal Market by emailing minimalmarketlv@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.  

Minimal Market’s refillery will have its grand opening this coming weekend on Saturday and Sunday, December 5th and 6th, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They will also be open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The store will be located at 1028 Fremont Street Suite 108, Las Vegas, NV 89101, in the courtyard at Fergusons.

Minimal Market is offering a 10% off discount for customers bringing their own refill containers or shopping bags. They are currently only accepting personal containers for refills that are empty and clean, and the store will have a 3-person capacity at a time to meet state COVID requirements. Face masks covering both the nose and mouth are required to enter the store.