Tell us about yourself?
I’m Jaquie Rushlow, the founder of The Keep Refillery. The Keep has four locations in Ontario including Creemore, Meaford, Kingston, and Toronto.
I opened the first location in Creemore in 2020 and after the first opening, I felt the need to affect change in more communities. Soon after the success of the Creemore location came the launch of our second location in Meaford.
Eight months after that, the third location in Kingston followed suit and finally, this year, the fourth location opened in March 2023 at 637 Dupont St in Toronto. The main mission of The Keep Refillery is to eliminate single use plastics one community at a time.
Tell us your views on Sustainability?
At The Keep, our mission and purpose are at the forefront of it all. By remaining true to our fundamental mission of reducing and trying to eliminate single use plastic in every single community, I believe that business will follow suit. The Keep Refillery’s end goal is to have three hundred refilleries in ten years.
Which are your favourite products at the store?
My favourite refillery products reside in the facial care section. As a woman, I believe that it has been difficult to find makeup and skincare that isn’t packaged from plastic materials.
Furthermore, this common struggle propelled me into launching a Canadian-made, truly sustainable, and refillable facial care line. As well, frequent customers claim to enjoy our laundry detergent and dish soap. These items are so popular as they are commonly used around the house.
How are you supporting other women entrepreneurs?
Approximately 75% of The Keep’s product offerings are made by women entrepreneurs. For instance, the woman who makes our popular bath bombs, has been able to grow her own business thanks to the support and partnership with us. We just had to order 6000 bath bombs from her and as a result she was able to hire two more staff and buy a full new bath bomb machine.
As well, many of our products are made by local neighbors. Penny Lane, for example, is our store neighbor in Meaford, who creates products like our popular room spray. Moreover, one of my main values, aside from eliminating plastic, is to build up other women entrepreneurs like myself.
The Keep Refillery in Toronto at 637 Dupont St, Toronto, ON M6G 1Z4 or order online at https://www.thekeeprefillery.
