With daily deliveries of fresh fruit, vegetables and fresh bread Small Changes is a local grocer with a zero waste
ethos, open seven days a week in Inchicore. With loose dry and fresh goods and an eco-friendly household refill station, customers can bring their own containers and buy as little or as much product as they need. We also have a Fresh Juice & Smoothie Bar and take away tea & coffee.
In Small Changes the aim is to make it easy and reasonable for customers to shop in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. This was embraced by the community in Drumcondra fro over 7 years and now for over one Inchicore and Dublin 8 . We can only hope that even more people will embrace the ethos in the coming months.
The seeds of Small Changes were sown back in 2010 when Peader was made redundant from the construction industry and soon after diagnosed with testicular cancer. Beginning online and then venturing into bricks and mortar, he opened the first Small Changes shop in Gorey, Co. Wexford.
"I needed to reassess my life and career. I cut down on using strong chemicals in my home and began eating a more organic, plant based diet".
It was 2015 when Peadar upped sticks and opened the first Dublin store in Drumcondra. For the last six years Peadar and his team have grown the business, where over a quarter of their products are Irish.
“Having locally sourced produce is important on a number of levels. I know what it's like starting off so supporting Irish producers is at the forefront of everything we do. It also keeps our and in turn our customers carbon footprint
low”, explains Peadar.
‘Like every small business, there have been plenty of ups and downs and the last year has been unlike any other.’ As the first lockdown took hold in March 2020, Peadar had to look at his business and see if he could stay open safely for staff and customers. ‘Everything changed and there was a lot of uncertainty, and we literally had to change how we worked overnight to keep going.” Small Changes stayed open throughout 2020 and into 2021. ‘My team is brilliant and our customers are too. It’s amazing to see the support for local independent retailers and so we do what we can to help all of our customers’, says Peadar.
During the early days of the pandemic they offered free deliveries to customers who were cocooning or isolating. This delivery service has now been expanded in recent months and now customers can order online for delivery and click and collect from Inchicore.
A new offering to their Inchicore community is a secret oasis at the back of the new store. Peadar has been working on it and, as soon as it is ready, it will be the perfect spot to take a break.
“The idea came when I thought back to my own cancer journey, taking time out was important for my recovery and we would like to offer this to others’, says Peadar.
All of his cancer treatment was in St James, and with pride he offers their staff a 10% discount.
“Giving back is very important to me and the team”.
