Hello!Bulk Markets — Attraction in Salt Lake City

Love the concept of HelloBulk. I tried it today for the first time and went in for specific items. I am a thrifty Costco shopper, but also want to stop purchasing enough bulk plastic to kill a dolphin colony on my own. Here are my findings (I do plan on returning with a more comprehensive shopping list to compare prices and weigh that against environmental impact).

I brought an empty 1 liter hair conditioner bottle in and purchased two shampoo bars and checked out some other items for future interest.

Shampoo bars weighed out at $2.88 each for what looks like 80 washes. I used to pay wayyy more than that for salon grade shampoo, switched to lush at $11.65 for one bar so I bought two at HelloBulk for HALF the price of a single lush bar. Used it, it's good. Lathers. Only one option though (I need volumizing bars which usually contain sea salt).

Hair conditioner was expensive to me. I buy the sulphate/paraben free stuff at Costco for $9.99 for 33 oz or 1 liter and theirs was .47 to .57 cents an ounce which ended up being double at $20. They have many options. I'm going to find a different solution for conditioner. I have a good bottle and pump. My hair feels amazing. If you buy pureology or other salon grade conditioners this is a solid price for the quality you get.

Their deodorant was a good price--all gone today though. I make my own now copying the lemon balm/lavender bar from lush and have been using it for a few weeks and I'm starting to gift it to people to see what they think. Making my own saves me like $10-$15 a month and lots of chemicals. For about $30 I purchased enough deodorant ingredients to last me 6 months.

The laundry detergent was .14 cents an ounce if I remember correctly. I have 188 oz container from Smith's that I pay $4.99 for when it’s on sale. I only buy it on sale. Theirs would have cost me like $26....noooo thank you.

I wonder if their prices are higher because they don't have the demand yet as brand recognition is still spreading. I hope they get more shoppers and that their prices drop as a result. I’ve purchased a ton of glass bottles and saved all my quality plastic face wash and hair and soap pumps but I’m in need of something thriftier.

UPDATE—I used the conditioner and it was extremely concentrated. In the same bottle, the Costco conditioner would take 2-3 pumps to cover my shoulder length hair. I got it all for one pump. A lot of volume too once dry.

I’ll be testing the laundry detergent and dish soap next, hope it’s super concentrated. That is a factor I didn’t consider in my earlier price comparisons. I currently get 160 wash loads out of 188 oz. at $4.99. If I can get four to five times more than 160 washes then that would be worth it. Don’t...

What is really exciting about Hello Bulk and other non-waste businesses is that these businesses are part of movement. I really believe that there is a direct correlation between sustainability and for example the #metoo movement. These movements are reactions to issues that citizens have grown tired of and are looking for change. What makes me most excited about these movements is that I feel like they are incubators for new communities of support.

With the concept of a community of support in mind - I was heartbroken by my experience with Hello Bulk. I really wanted to love this new shop and I hoped that this new business would be a center of support but unfortunately, we had a horrible customer service experience and I will not be returning.

Here is what happened - I went with two of my girlfriends and one of their babies. My friend had to change the baby’s diaper in car before entering Hello Bulk. She put the used diaper in a doggy poop bag. There was no garbage cans outside the store and unbeknownst to me when we entered Hello Bulk, my friend asked if there was a trash can so she could throw the diaper away -- the store clerk refused to throw the diaper away. My dear friend, quietly just put the diaper outside the store until we were finished shopping.

The store clerk's refusal to throw the diaper away, made my friend feel judged and extremely uncomfortable. She didn’t buy anything, and I should have known something was up when she didn’t purchase any items because we were all excited to start incorporating no-waste practices in our lives. She didn't tell us this happened until after we purchased our bulk items but I would not have bought anything from this shop if I had known they made my friend feel less about herself.

We totally understand that we were shopping at a no-waste shop. We get the irony in asking them to throw a diaper in the trash but no-one should feel judged. I think this shop needs to reevaluate their expectations and mission. This shop should support motherhood and the struggles...

We love, love, love this store and the bulk buying concept. Everyone is always very helpful and friendly. I just love the thought of the plastic that we're NOT using every time we come here. However, we've been trying to utilize this store for a few essentials in our household but it's been very difficult to rely on them because of how often certain essentials are out of stock. If we travel to the store to restock on four items, for example, it's very likely that they will be out of 1-3 of those things. We're patient and we love what they're doing here so we make due but I really wish they would be a little more proactive with inventory. It seems like they don't order more until the bin is empty. I don't own a business, nor do I claim to know how to manage this type of business. I just know that I would want to know what my customers are struggling with, which is why I'm mentioning it at all. So please take my criticism with love. I'm sure there are certain limitations in this market that I'm not taking into account but we would really love to see more consistency with the inventory. Nevertheless, we still love the store and are still regular customers. Join the fight against single-use plastic!

Response: Thank you for the thoughtful response! Our biggest issue items for sure are normally the dishwasher pods, laundry detergent liquid, and olive oil. We happened to need soy sauce one day so we grabbed an empty bottle and planned to get some while we were there but that was sold out also. We've actually come to consistently expect the dishwasher pods to be out of stock to the extent that we will plan to buy them weeks ahead of time because it usually takes 2-3 trips before we find them in stock. We can handle the inconvenience, we just hate having to buy another plastic container at a grocery store when we're in a pinch. We're thrilled that your store exists and thrilled that you're doing so well. Hopefully communications like this will help in...