This package-free food market was supposed to open last year. Here’s what happened
Lea Rainey and Zach Yunker had hoped their zero-waste market, the first in Idaho, would open by the end of 2018.
But while the road sign for Roots Zero Waste Market beckons Garden City motorists, the building at 3308 W. Chinden Blvd. remains empty.
The married couple found that it took longer than they expected to obtain the necessary permits to remodel the former Ali Baba Hookah Bar, which burned in 2015. Last week, Garden City approved a building permit for the store, allowing work to commence.
“We’re ramping up,” said Rainey, who now expects the store to open this spring.
The upgrades, which include the addition of a deli kitchen, seating, store shelves, a roll-up door and an outdoor deck, are estimated to cost $160,000.
The store will sell organic fruits and vegetables, local dairy and animal products, eggs, oil, flour, beans and eggs. Rainey and Yunker also plan to offer fresh-pressed juices and regional beers, wine, ciders and botanical sodas on tap. The deli will offer sandwiches, salads and cheeses, along with prepared meat, vegan and vegetarian dishes.
Customers can bring their own containers, and the store will sell reusable containers such as glass bottles and muslin bags.
The concept for the zero-waste market is to sell products without the packaging material and plastic shopping bags used by most grocery stores. Rainey had seen zero-waste markets in Ireland, Switzerland and Germany, where they are popular.
The average person generates 4.6 pounds of trash per day, according to the Annenberg Foundation. Less than a quarter is recycled, with the rest burned or buried in landfills.
There are zero-waste markets in Salt Lake City, Denver and Ventura, California. The nation’s first zero-waste market, In.gredients, opened in Austin, Texas, in 2012. It operated for five years but closed because of low sales.
This story was originally published January 31, 2019 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This package-free food market was supposed to open last year. Here’s what happened."
