‘Difficult decision’ as owner of shop announces closure of venture in Shropshire town

A eco-friendly refill store has announced it will shut its Newport market stall later this month, just 10 months after expanding from its Wellington base.

The Little Green Pantry, an eco-friendly 'zero-waste' refill shop based on Crown Street in Wellington, opened its second store inside Newport Market last September.

Then, business owner Keli King said the move was a 'return to the roots' of the business, which began as pop-up stalls in markets in Telford and Newport before moving to a more permanent home in Wellington in 2021.

But, 10 months on, Keli has made the “difficult decision” to close the Newport site, after it failed to become profitable.

In a post on social media, Keli wrote: “The truth is that, despite the incredible support from our customers, the stall has never made enough to cover my wages.

“For the last 10 months I've effectively been working there for free because I truly believed we could make it work.”

In recent months, the thriving Wellington site has expanded into a bigger store just around the corner.

Keli said the team would be focusing all of their energy into the newly improved Wellington shop but revealed hopes to one day return to Newport.

She added: “Special discount vouchers for Newport customers will be available from next week, for money off your first shop in Wellington as a thank you - and don't think of this as goodbye forever.

“We hope to return to Newport one day if the opportunity is right. Until then, it's simply goodbye for now.”

The Newport market stall will close for the final time on Saturday, July 18.