Get the refillable containers ready. Fillagreen is coming to downtown Fredericksburg next month. The store, which specializes in sustainable products and refills, will move to 716 Caroline St., between Duly Noted and 718 Venue. The address is the former home of Collage Market, which moved to the spa’s location at 804 Charles St.
This will be Fillagreen’s second location. Owner John Hicks, who also operates a store in Manassas, said he is excited to return to Fredericksburg.
“My family moved there in 1983, and I attended elementary and high school in Stafford County and graduated from UMW when it was still called Mary Washington College,” he said.
Beverly and John Hicks at the Fillagreen store in Manassas.
“Opening a business here feels like coming home. We are excited to be involved in the community.”
Hicks and his wife Beverley started their refill business in their garage during a transitional period in his career.
“This started as a thought experiment between my wife and me after I left the corporate world,” he said. “I had two choices: stay on the path I had been following for 25 years or start something new.”
The Hicks knew they wanted to work for themselves, but pursue a concept that wasn’t a franchise. “We knew the idea had to be worthwhile,” John Hicks said. “We didn’t want a refried, repackaged idea. We wanted something unique.”
The store sells personal hygiene products – shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste – and household care products such as dishwashing liquid, brushes, household cleaners and laundry detergent. Many of the products are sold in bulk by the ounce, while others are an alternative to plastic bottles and wasteful packaging.
“We encourage our customers to bring their own containers,” Hicks said. “Fill them with our product and that’s all you pay for. You don’t pay for the container, the extra water or the extra advertising and labels.”
Fillagreen’s motto is: sustainability, but imperfect.
“We don’t judge you if you can’t completely eliminate waste or plastic,” Hicks said. “We’re just here to help you find alternatives. Everything we offer is sustainably sourced, tested and tried by our family and friends.”
Hicks’ favorite sustainable swap is his Leaf Razor. He said it gives him “a lot of surface area to shave” on his head and face.
“I used to be a member of one of those subscription clubs, but I went through a cartridge every week, and the business model is to only sell you the proprietary blades that only fit on the handles,” he said. “The Leaf system gives me everything the subscription club offers, but I can use regular razors. It’s convenient and effective, and I get a better shave than I do with other razors.”
The Fillagreen store in Manassas sells bulk and zero-waste alternatives to conventional products.
Another popular substitute is using Swedish tea towels instead of regular paper towels.
“These things are incredible,” Hicks said. “The fact that this one piece of cotton and pulp can replace 17 rolls of paper towels? And then when it gets dirty or dingy, you can just throw it in the dishwasher and it’s ready to use again. It’s a zero-waste option that’s so easy.”
Fillagreen wants to disprove the myth that sustainability is about sacrifice. “It’s not about sacrifice,” says John Hicks. “You don’t have to sacrifice quality to make environmentally conscious choices. It’s about innovation and looking at everyday problems in a slightly different way.”
Fillagreen opens in Fredericksburg on September 20. Find them online at fillagreen.com and on on facebook. And Instagram.
