New Jersey's First Plastic-Free Grocery Store
[Music]
00:21
[Applause]
00:23
[Music]
00:26
[Applause]
00:26
[Music]
00:28
what's up everybody mike ham here with
00:30
another episode of greetings from the
00:31
garden state podcast we're here in
00:32
montclair new jersey today with at dry
00:35
goods refillary with the owner rachel
00:37
garcia rachel welcome to the show thank
00:39
you it's great to be here this is a
00:40
really cool place so to explain to us
00:44
what this place is like what is dry
00:45
goods or filler sure well i mean we
00:47
basically are a plastic and package-free
00:49
grocery um we
00:51
started off as a little bit of a smaller
00:53
operation to kind of get our feet wet in
00:55
maplewood actually and then made the
00:57
leap to be a full-fledged grocer um just
01:00
you know a few months back at this point
01:02
um and we are now officially the first
01:04
dedicated plastic-free grocery in the
01:06
state of new jersey wow uh so
01:09
we were there's a lot to get to there
01:10
but what made you decide to
01:13
uh
01:14
open a place like this you know it's a
01:16
combination of a lot of things i
01:19
you know grew up first of all born and
01:20
raised in new jersey um
01:22
and just kind of always was looking for
01:24
you know some kind of business to start
01:26
to be frank that was really the only
01:27
goal i had a really entrepreneurial
01:29
spirit and
01:30
once i had my kids i think i just got
01:33
really sucked into the convenience
01:34
culture of parenthood everything is
01:37
pre-packaged everything is based on the
01:39
go and it just felt like our trash was
01:42
just getting larger by the minute you
01:44
know and
01:45
i think it was that with a combination
01:46
of kind of some travels i'd been
01:48
overseas i'd been to
01:49
um you know japan or markets in
01:51
argentina where i actually lived for
01:52
about a year before the kids
01:54
and uh and just saw people shopping
01:56
differently than what we do yeah and it
01:58
was really just a matter of realizing
02:00
that there was an alternative that the
02:02
bubble of convenience was you know just
02:05
the way it was here and globally there
02:07
was a movement to shop more kind of you
02:09
know sustainably and i thought well
02:11
that's really cool i really understand
02:13
that and i can really understand why
02:14
that's a benefit um to myself and a
02:17
community
02:18
and of course you know i wanted a better
02:20
future for my kids honestly if nothing
02:22
else um and just kind of also just so it
02:24
was a combination of that
02:25
entrepreneurial spirit obviously this
02:26
finding that there was this need or this
02:28
this desire for myself that i had to
02:30
imagine other people wanted and then
02:32
also um i've just always been into food
02:33
man i love good food there's such good
02:35
food here you know i'm always looking
02:37
around for you know what's what's the
02:38
the coolest you know restaurant and the
02:40
cool farms that are kind of further out
02:41
west in the state and it's just fun to
02:43
to be able to kind of work with those
02:45
different people all in one space that
02:46
we can call our own and bring all of
02:48
that to a new community so that's kind
02:50
of the combination of all of it that
02:51
landed us here awesome so the original
02:54
location i guess was in maplewood was
02:57
how is that one different than where we
02:59
are now we started off as part of this
03:02
collaborative space it was a cooperative
03:04
environment in which we really were able
03:05
to test out our idea and prove concept
03:07
so what it was was really a lot of the
03:10
dried products that we carry we carry
03:11
beans and grains and dried pasta olive
03:13
oils you know maple syrup that kind of
03:15
stuff that was all available for refill
03:17
um the idea is you know the same here
03:19
you bring your own container um or you
03:21
can use one of the ones we provide or
03:23
sell and just take as much as little as
03:25
you need in this space we've really
03:27
expanded upon that to try and work with
03:28
our community to provide prepared foods
03:30
like hummus or soup we work with fresh
03:32
breads we do milk and eggs and cheese
03:35
you know and the goal and fresh produce
03:36
as well with local farms so it's really
03:38
about trying to be that one stop shop
03:40
that i feel like really makes this
03:42
something special right
03:43
this is awesome um so
03:46
looking deeper into that with like the
03:48
local businesses and the local farm so
03:50
is everything here from places that are
03:52
local to
03:53
montclair we try really hard to source
03:56
everything as sustainably as we can and
03:58
definitely the more local is the more
03:59
sustainable um so when it comes to
04:01
things like fresh breads we work with an
04:03
amazing provider called a french dad
04:05
that's right here in montclair um we
04:06
source coffee beans that are locally
04:08
roasted here in montclair from paper
04:09
plane coffee for example if not you know
04:11
williamsburg brooklyn or you know in the
04:13
tri-state um and then you know like i
04:16
said some of those prepared foods like
04:17
hummus which is coming from an
04:18
incredible restaurant around the corner
04:20
called marcel
04:21
and they make hummus for us in these
04:22
glass jars that then we can sanitize in
04:24
between bring them back the next tray
04:25
and we have fresh product that normally
04:27
would be not found in a grocery store
04:28
without plastic or packaging right other
04:30
than that you know there are a lot of
04:32
makers and smaller businesses in the
04:34
space but we really try if they're not
04:36
hyper local to make sure there's a
04:37
reason they exist so they're either
04:39
small female owned they give money back
04:41
to their communities or they give one
04:43
percent back to the planet they're
04:44
certified carbon neutral you know our
04:46
goal is to really do all that curation
04:48
ahead of time so that when you as a
04:49
customer come into our store you can
04:51
just feel good that you're making a more
04:52
sustainable purchase if you want to nerd
04:54
out and talk about it with me i'll talk
04:56
about it with you all day long but at
04:57
the end of the day we just know it's
04:58
really delicious high quality product
05:00
coming from supply chains that we want
05:02
to support and where we want our money
05:03
going so yeah you can feel really good
05:04
about your purchase even if you just
05:06
really need tomato sauce right you know
05:08
yeah interesting so if like let's just
05:09
say someone's listening to this and
05:11
they're like oh i live close to
05:12
montclair or you know the local area and
05:14
they're like i'm gonna go down and check
05:16
it out like what can somebody expect
05:18
coming in here for like the first time
05:19
like what what are they there are the
05:21
things they need to do do they need to
05:22
bring a bag and like dump all their
05:23
stuff we try and make this as
05:24
approachable and simple as possible and
05:26
let me just back up to say like this is
05:28
not a movement of perfection i am not
05:31
perfect i have plastic in my home i've
05:33
you know bought things that are wrapped
05:34
in plastic you know no one is going to
05:35
be here judging you or making it you
05:37
feel like you have to do something
05:38
special to come in the front door that's
05:40
just not how we help people outcomes
05:42
yeah i mean you know at the end of the
05:43
day we're so happy if you even just want
05:45
to check it out and see what we're about
05:46
because we just really believe in it and
05:47
we're also not going to preach to you
05:49
unless you really want to talk about it
05:50
with us at the end of the day um you
05:52
know you are welcome to bring your own
05:53
container here which is a big thing so
05:55
people say oh what can i bring you can
05:57
bring anything it could be an empty
05:58
pasta sauce jar it can be take out from
06:00
your chinese restaurant that you're done
06:02
with it could be you know the plastic
06:04
that goes around sliced bread if that's
06:05
your thing and your kid likes this one
06:06
kind of bread just bring the bag when
06:08
you're done you're going to grab you
06:09
know the pound and a half or half a
06:11
pound of whatever you need yeah fill it
06:12
up and bring it home we have systems
06:14
here that pre-weigh all your containers
06:16
so it really doesn't matter to us what
06:18
you bring you're not going to pay any
06:20
more or less depending on what you bring
06:21
it's just the vehicle to get it home if
06:23
you come off the street and you're not
06:24
prepared we got recycled paper bags
06:26
there's nothing wrong with that right
06:27
right you know or we do sell glass jars
06:29
that um you know we're welcome to bring
06:31
over and over to the store so we try and
06:32
make it super easy at the end of the day
06:34
like i said there's no implementation
06:36
intimidation here we're really just
06:38
trying to you know get you to try
06:40
thinking about the way you grocery shop
06:41
a little different yeah you know yeah
06:43
and then
06:43
when
06:44
the move when you made the move from
06:46
like that co-op type space in maplewood
06:48
to the space in montclair um was there a
06:51
reason why you picked montclair was it
06:52
was there like different places that you
06:54
were maybe considering and then
06:55
montclair was the place you were like
06:56
yeah montclair is the spot i mean a
06:58
couple reasons i think one first and
06:59
foremost that's what the customers were
07:01
telling us we had a lot of business that
07:03
was coming from montclair it's not the
07:05
closest drive 30 minutes you know and it
07:07
felt like there was obviously a need for
07:09
it um and also i just think that
07:11
montclair is this kind of amazing
07:13
community that really values small local
07:15
business and we try and use our store
07:17
not just for the sustainability piece
07:18
and obviously this whole plastic free
07:20
ideas is the key and the heart of what
07:22
we do but to really be that advocate and
07:24
support for other small community
07:26
businesses so when we have a unique idea
07:28
that's not you know in every single town
07:30
across the state people come from far we
07:32
get people that come from south jersey
07:34
or come from you know
07:36
various parts of you know of the state
07:38
jersey city hoboken whatever to drive to
07:40
try this experience so now we can
07:42
introduce them to these awesome local
07:44
businesses and i feel like that network
07:46
and that kind of support system is so
07:49
special here i'm not saying it's totally
07:51
unique it's just really special and i
07:53
just knew that that was something that
07:54
would really help this become more of a
07:56
movement because it is a unique concept
07:58
and i think there are hurdles for people
07:59
so having more people on our side more
08:01
advocates more members of the community
08:03
and businesses who are who are
08:04
interested in this kind of thing
08:06
definitely helps get the movement off
08:07
the ground right and then speaking of
08:09
the movement being like the pioneer of
08:11
this type of thing i think are there
08:14
more now are there other there are
08:16
definitely places that you can buy
08:18
bulk product um i mean frankly let's be
08:20
honest you can do it at whole foods sure
08:22
they don't make it very easy to bring
08:23
your own container and that piece of it
08:25
but the idea of taking as much or as
08:26
little as you want is there at least um
08:29
but you know we obviously strive to do a
08:30
lot more than that from from a variety
08:32
of stuff because we have less
08:33
limitations than sure grocery store um
08:36
you know and so there are other places
08:37
in the state to do this kind of thing i
08:39
love to recommend this one website to
08:41
people because it's really great for
08:42
anywhere across the country it's called
08:43
litterless
08:45
l-i-t-t-e-r-l-e-s-s
08:47
and they do a really great job at
08:49
showing where you can buy things in bulk
08:51
within your state separated by community
08:53
or town
08:54
and so it might even just be the small
08:56
corner of a health food store it might
08:57
be a huge store you know that's really
09:00
pushing the envelope it could be
09:01
something like ours that's a community
09:02
driven place you know that's doing kind
09:04
of all different categories but i find
09:06
that you know there's definitely other
09:07
places like this and it's a matter of
09:09
just kind of knowing it's out there yeah
09:11
um so something like that to me is
09:12
always a first recommendation of people
09:13
who you know are looking in their own
09:15
communities to see if there's a way that
09:16
they can you know try and move the
09:18
needle just kind of as we say here one
09:19
jar at a time you know one drive time i
09:21
like that so um but what's it like being
09:25
does there become uh maybe like people
09:27
look to you as like this expert of
09:29
non-plastic you know pioneering save the
09:32
earth type of thing um does that you
09:35
know come into play as well like being
09:36
the first one doing something like this
09:38
yeah we definitely get um people coming
09:40
to us to ask you know a lot of questions
09:42
we're assuming we know all the answers
09:44
but i'm totally upfront that sometimes
09:45
we don't know yeah and i also think you
09:47
know research and and you know people
09:49
out there doing you know the work of
09:51
figuring out how to tackle some of these
09:53
bigger issues that's all evolving and
09:54
changing too so what we might think is
09:56
the right decision now um you know
09:58
eventually might not be the right
09:59
decision or more we might find that
10:01
something that we thought was more
10:02
sustainable as an alternative actually
10:04
is not um and so we just do our very
10:06
best and i think that message of not
10:09
perfection but just kind of you know
10:11
being able to be more mindful as we like
10:13
to say is important and is kind of all
10:16
we can ask of our customers and all we
10:18
can kind of provide is to is to be the
10:19
best we can i mean i immerse myself in
10:21
this stuff it's like the podcast i
10:23
listen to and you know my my
10:25
documentaries that i watch and the
10:27
articles that i like to read and all
10:28
those things but i'm definitely not an
10:30
expert nor do i want to pretend to be
10:32
you know i'm somebody who really cares
10:33
yeah and really wants to be able to give
10:35
other people in my community and in my
10:37
surrounding areas you know the chance to
10:39
to do to feel like they're making that
10:41
difference that you know i was really
10:42
craving before we open the stores right
10:44
yeah definitely and you know i just lost
10:46
my train of thought i had a great
10:47
follow-up question to that but um you
10:49
know one of the things that i think is
10:50
interesting is that because you're
10:52
sourcing your stuff from local places
10:55
does that kind of this might have been
10:56
my question um does does that kind of
10:58
like maybe change the types of products
11:00
that people can get from here you know
11:03
if they come in like on today's tuesday
11:05
we're recording this but you're closed
11:06
today but if they come in tomorrow
11:07
wednesday and you're open on wednesdays
11:10
may that be different than something
11:11
that they may get on saturday yeah i
11:13
mean we try also as a small business and
11:15
for the sake of food waste in general
11:17
right to keep things pretty lean i mean
11:19
we do work with an incredible carbon
11:20
neutral supplier for a lot of our
11:22
products that really helps us get you
11:24
know year-round a lot of different
11:26
things and we can also source you know
11:27
bananas or avocados that way that you
11:29
know frankly we live in a society where
11:31
people are buying that on a regular
11:32
basis they're not you know consuming
11:33
their produce for example hyper locally
11:35
all year round and so yeah we know that
11:37
we're sourcing it well um but it does
11:39
vary you know we we get a product
11:40
shipment on wednesday and maybe we sell
11:42
through that but we can't get another
11:43
one for the following wednesday so we
11:44
get a different person that brings us
11:46
produce on fridays and then it's going
11:47
to look a little bit different yeah um
11:48
but we do also try and make sure that
11:50
we're covering all the bases um you know
11:53
pretty regularly and like the highlights
11:55
yeah the highlights yeah like i said you
11:57
know whether that's milk or cheese or
11:58
eggs or bread i mean those are all going
11:59
to always be here you know might not be
12:01
carrots every single minute of the year
12:03
yeah um because maybe we sold out or
12:05
maybe there are no local carrots right
12:06
now you know whatever the answer is
12:08
right right um so we really try to um
12:10
keep it consistent but also there's
12:12
always something new going on here and
12:13
it's kind of what makes it fun and
12:15
different yeah no that's awesome all
12:16
right so we're gonna take our first
12:18
break of this episode um so this has
12:21
been the greetings from the garden state
12:22
podcast i'm mike hamm she's rachel
12:24
garcia we're in montclair new jersey at
12:26
dry goods for hillary we'll be right
12:27
back
12:31
it is time for today in new jersey
12:33
history on december 13th 1923 larry
12:36
dobby was born in camden south carolina
12:38
but soon made new jersey his home he
12:40
moved to paterson at the age of 14
12:41
played the newark eagles of the negro
12:43
american league and spent the end of his
12:45
life in montclair and that is today in
12:47
new jersey history
12:52
and we're back this is the greetings
12:53
from the garden state podcast i'm mike
12:54
hamm we're here in montclair new jersey
12:56
at dry goods with phil refillary that's
12:58
hard to say really fast
13:00
distillery i mean i kind of wish it was
13:01
a distillery that would be cool yeah
13:02
like a sustainable distillery don't get
13:04
me that maybe that's our future plan
13:05
that's going to be the future we're
13:06
going to talk about that in a minute but
13:08
we're right here on the street obviously
13:10
we're creating a lot of buzz so if
13:12
business all of a sudden starts spiking
13:14
tomorrow
13:15
uh call me and you know we could talk
13:17
about sounds good yeah i think that
13:19
that's the you got it i do feel like i'm
13:20
on the radio here we have really big
13:21
like clear windows in the front i feel
13:23
like people are like looking in like oh
13:24
are they on the radio yeah right they're
13:25
like banging on the windows yes i feel
13:27
like what's going on in there yeah it's
13:28
very cool that well that's the whole
13:29
vibe of this show is we try to be as
13:31
cool as possible i feel honored my thank
13:32
you yeah um so the first segment we
13:35
talked a little bit about your
13:36
background we talked a lot about the
13:37
background of this business sure um kind
13:39
of what it's all about but uh what we're
13:41
gonna do in this segment
13:42
is that first we're gonna the first part
13:44
of the second we're gonna talk a little
13:45
bit about kind of what it's been like
13:46
navigating the last year and a half
13:48
cause i would imagine as a small you
13:50
know sustainable uh local business
13:53
source from local you know businesses
13:54
like that that must have been difficult
13:57
to navigate um i would imagine as it was
13:59
difficult for everybody
14:01
in a lot of different ways but um talk
14:03
to me just like a little bit about that
14:04
we don't have to get too doomy i mean no
14:06
there's no dream including to be honest
14:07
with you i i i hate to admit this when
14:10
there's other businesses that i know are
14:11
still you know coming out of what was a
14:12
very difficult time for small business
14:14
um but i do feel like it really almost
14:16
helped our business a bit um we did open
14:19
up just six weeks before lockdown so
14:21
kind of not what we expected any sense
14:23
of the word um but you know we really
14:26
opened i think some people's eyes
14:27
including our own to how unique our
14:29
supply chain really is we sourced you
14:32
know flour and yeast during that big
14:33
baking craze that happens in the
14:35
beginning of things that has since died
14:36
down and i understand why um i'm happy
14:39
to just buy my bread at this point i
14:40
have no time for that but um but you
14:42
know that that idea of we had that stuff
14:45
really one gave you know people
14:47
you know buzz about us in the community
14:48
like oh yeah you can get that at dragons
14:50
or ferry what's that oh this is new
14:51
store that opened so i think that
14:52
actually helped us a bit um but it
14:54
shifted us quickly i mean we i just
14:56
remember a little kind of two three day
14:58
hiatus where we shut down and my husband
15:00
and i really whipped up a website real
15:01
quick and just yeah online business here
15:03
we go like totally not what we expected
15:05
yeah um which was you know a night's
15:08
been away that was
15:09
obviously it could have been spent way
15:10
way different in different times and it
15:12
was whatever so um you know we we
15:14
switched to an online model we did a lot
15:16
of curbside pickup um but again i i do
15:18
feel like being in food we were lucky in
15:20
the sense that food is a necessity so we
15:22
were able to stay open in some capacity
15:24
or another um you know and i also think
15:27
despite there being this apprehension
15:29
and understanding of like oh everything
15:30
needs to be like extra wraps single
15:32
wraps you get a whole food zone every
15:33
bagel is in its own container
15:36
you know that whole thing i think i
15:38
don't i don't fully understand why
15:39
that's still happening because i think
15:40
we have learned a lot i mean certainly
15:42
in the beginning there was massive
15:43
sanitation on every surface at every
15:45
second um we've been in food service so
15:48
we always have the most sanitized that i
15:50
could possibly imagine we do single
15:51
scoops per bin we were very very intense
15:54
about cross-contamination and allergies
15:55
and so we we've kind of always had that
15:57
kind of high standard when it comes to
15:59
sanitation yeah um but you know other
16:01
than that it just felt like um
16:04
see now i lost my train of thought well
16:06
we were talking about uh
16:09
you don't know either i don't know
16:10
either no i'm just kidding we were just
16:12
talking about like kind of navigating
16:13
the last year and a half you were
16:14
talking about how like you know you
16:15
spent a couple days doing the website oh
16:17
yeah you've always been very conscious
16:19
of the sanitation
16:21
sustainability bubble and then i'm right
16:23
and we just lose you in the bubble um no
16:24
but anyway so my point was i don't
16:26
really understand all of that and so um
16:27
i think we what we did see was this this
16:29
big push into single use again which i
16:32
felt like we were just gaining momentum
16:33
to get out of right which is like your
16:35
thing yeah and the idea of the
16:37
single-use plastic because i'll back up
16:38
to say that like we're not saying that
16:40
all plastic is bad there's plenty of
16:42
reasons that you know plastic has been a
16:44
benefit to our society it is really you
16:46
know medical and all these other things
16:47
right it's that single use i just need a
16:49
fork for my lunch i just need a bag to
16:51
take something home i mean this is what
16:52
adds up i need a bottle of water to take
16:54
my podcast i have water we sell some if
16:56
you need one mic when you're done yeah
16:58
um but anywho um you know at the end of
17:00
the day i think that we were able to
17:03
then kind of show people that like you
17:05
know there was an alternative to that
17:07
when big grocery stores and other people
17:09
were still really pushing this idea of
17:10
single use and we kind of stood out from
17:12
that regard so um you know that was kind
17:14
of how we got here um certainly you know
17:16
we're back to you know we do
17:18
at the moment and this obviously can
17:19
change depending on all things we you
17:21
know do ask customers to wear masks in
17:23
our store um you know and other than
17:25
that we're operating as normal as we
17:26
envisioned it you know with their own
17:27
containers and we feel like that's your
17:29
container if you watched it you should
17:31
yeah but you know where we're
17:32
comfortable right um and so yeah you
17:35
know other than that we're just you know
17:36
trying to move forward with the idea and
17:38
progress every every day and and try to
17:41
do our best to kind of tell people you
17:42
know that there's an alternative out
17:44
there yeah so one of the other questions
17:46
i have which just came to me as we were
17:47
talking about that and talking about how
17:49
you know like in the first segment we
17:50
talked a little bit about what someone
17:51
can can expect when they come in here so
17:54
you have like the bins with the you know
17:56
scoops and all this other stuff in here
17:58
um
17:59
are there like do you if you see
18:01
somebody come in do you have to like
18:02
make sure that they know kind of what
18:04
the
18:04
protocol is yeah like hey don't dump
18:07
your hands into the bin oh i hope that's
18:09
like not a well i wouldn't yeah right
18:11
but that's just probably the most
18:12
sustainable way to do it right your
18:14
hands always there you're right there's
18:15
no dishwashing involved that way you're
18:16
right maybe maybe not the cleanliness
18:18
but then oh for sure
18:20
sure um yeah i mean we're i really feel
18:23
just from my own personal experience and
18:25
my background i come from retail and
18:26
customer service you know to me that
18:28
environment where you feel welcomed and
18:30
helped as much or as little as you need
18:31
is honestly at the crux of what i feel
18:34
is important in a store like this i want
18:35
people who want their hand held to feel
18:37
like we're here for them and people who
18:39
have a better sense of what they're
18:40
doing or they've done this a couple
18:41
times now and they don't need any
18:42
assistance to feel like we're not all
18:44
over them yes but it's important to me
18:45
that those people that come in it's
18:47
typically
18:48
hi
18:49
yeah right first time yeah that's like
18:51
when i was like when i walked in here
18:52
right yes i think that the first timers
18:54
it's not obvious i don't want to call
18:56
them out but it's definitely like clear
18:58
that they might want some guidance so
19:00
we'll see if they need it and then we
19:01
walk them through the process we have an
19:03
electronic um system we use these rfid
19:05
tags which is really fun to um you know
19:08
pre-weigh your containers so we show
19:09
them how that's done it's very simple um
19:11
and then we just kind of give them the
19:12
quick rule like hey one scoop per minute
19:14
you know for bin per item and um let us
19:16
know a few questions or you know if you
19:18
need you know help walking through the
19:19
shop or whatever um but you know at the
19:21
end of the day we want people to explore
19:23
it's fine
19:24
it's really this crux of um retail and
19:27
and grocery so there's a lot to see and
19:28
there's a lot to do and there's a lot to
19:30
buy and shop and and explore with um and
19:33
so let you know let them run free it's
19:34
their store let them have fun and then
19:36
you know we're here if they have any
19:37
questions or issues it seems like it's a
19:39
lot more fun to shop here for groceries
19:40
than it would be at x y z large big box
19:44
so i mean i i do feel like the pandemic
19:47
had made people kind of slow down a
19:48
little bit exactly whether that was
19:50
forced because they were home and had
19:51
more time right they just need to escape
19:53
from being home with their children 24 7
19:54
which i can relate to with two young
19:56
kids um you know and and the idea that
19:58
they could come somewhere and almost
19:59
enjoy
20:01
grocery shopping is really unique i
20:03
think you know groceries typically is a
20:05
chore right
20:06
this is something more like an
20:07
experience it's something that you're
20:09
doing you know to have you know a minute
20:11
to yourself actually that's not forced
20:13
into running an errand it's you know
20:14
chatting with us or chatting with you
20:16
know we know a lot of our customers by
20:17
name because they're regulars and we're
20:18
saying oh hey how are you you know how
20:20
was that thing last week oh do you like
20:22
it oh did you see this new thing we got
20:23
in you know it feels really personalized
20:25
and i think that that is really
20:27
different than a typical place you're
20:29
going to get sustainable you know food
20:32
and by assisting i mean like actually to
20:33
sustain your body food you know like a
20:35
grocery store sure um and so it's nice
20:37
to kind of have that that blend here uh
20:40
and allow the customers to you know
20:41
enjoy what they're doing a little bit
20:43
which is fun for us and for them yeah
20:44
absolutely and i i totally agree with
20:46
that so maybe looking also so did you
20:49
say also earlier that
20:51
uh it was six weeks before
20:53
you know covet kind of started that you
20:55
guys opened here right so that was like
20:57
perfect timing so yes uh way to go um
21:00
but uh but so basically you've been oh
21:02
that's when we first opened our business
21:03
business ever that first day even in
21:05
maplewood yes it was six weeks we opened
21:07
maplewood um six weeks after lockdown or
21:10
six weeks before lockdown and then this
21:11
was open when
21:13
uh
21:14
september 2nd
21:15
of 2020 no of this year oh this year
21:18
yeah oh my god this is been here like
21:20
for not that long why did i think i
21:22
totally misread like that's all right no
21:24
no this location is super new yeah
21:25
exciting great host right here i mean i
21:27
definitely didn't you've done your
21:28
research definitely did my research um
21:30
okay so then you've been
21:32
open here uh for just
21:35
a couple months um wow crazy but um all
21:38
right so that just blew my mind myself
21:40
but uh
21:42
so
21:42
obviously this is a relatively new place
21:45
um even if it was still you know prior
21:47
to still relatively march 2020 february
21:49
2020 whatever that was um still
21:51
relatively new business but kind of as
21:53
you've gone through this and now you've
21:55
obviously expanded to here are there
21:57
things that you're planning on doing or
21:59
maybe have like aspirations to do kind
22:01
of in the future is it multiple
22:03
locations is it a bigger spot world
22:05
domination world domination obviously
22:07
right um no plastic in the entire world
22:09
of course yeah i mean look as an
22:11
entrepreneur i always have new ideas we
22:13
are working right now on a delivery
22:15
model um we feel like that's really
22:17
important to us and we also do a large
22:19
amount of holiday gifting and things um
22:21
you know and just gifting in general you
22:23
know housewarming gifts or you know um
22:25
hostess gifts thank you gifts i don't
22:27
know any gift
22:28
people love food so gifts is always an
22:30
option right um but we do it obviously
22:32
without plastic and packaging and with
22:33
you know the products that we really
22:34
feel good about um but the delivery is
22:36
definitely something we i was hesitant
22:38
on to be honest it's kind of the
22:39
antithesis of my mission i really would
22:41
prefer i had seven locations and they
22:43
were all ten minutes from your house so
22:44
that would be ideal yeah we are not
22:45
there yet i'm a small family business so
22:47
um the delivery is definitely something
22:49
we
22:50
are pushing to do in the next you know
22:51
uh month or two um if not by the time
22:54
this airs it might already be up and
22:55
running um but we just feel like we have
22:58
some creative ways to keep that
23:01
more sustainable even though um so
23:03
whether that's you know having certain
23:04
delivery days so that we're not just
23:05
constantly running out on demand to also
23:08
you know working with carbon offsets to
23:10
try and you know have a small delivery
23:12
fee that frankly for us is just going to
23:13
go to feeling like we're offsetting you
23:15
know you know our carbon footprint right
23:17
if you ask me for my five-year plan i
23:19
want a set of e-bikes that's running
23:20
around the town delivering our product
23:22
and you laugh but that's a thing yeah
23:24
other stores in philadelphia or you know
23:26
something that's happening it is
23:27
happening it's just i don't have the
23:28
e-bike company so if anyone listening
23:30
here wants to start an e-bike company i
23:31
have an awesome first business for you i
23:33
love that yeah to drive around
23:35
in the universe yes put it in the
23:36
universe so i'm interested in this idea
23:38
um but anyway you know so that's that's
23:40
on the forefront um you know other than
23:42
that yeah i would love to have multiple
23:44
locations but i also feel like you know
23:46
we want more of these stores to exist
23:47
just in general and i do get a lot of
23:50
you know those dm slips about people
23:51
asking about it and i you know it's a
23:53
hard balance i'm a business owner we
23:55
want to survive enough to get people on
23:57
the mission we also you know don't want
23:58
to you know crush anyone else that's
24:00
trying to do this it's exciting to feel
24:02
like um more people are becoming more
24:04
mindful yeah and so you know i hope i
24:07
know there's been some even since we
24:08
opened that have opened like south
24:09
jersey and other places so um there's
24:11
one out of west and i think closer to
24:14
where you live i think there's one in
24:15
morristown which is why i asked that
24:16
there is one in morrisons i'm a well so
24:18
i'm excited for those people i think
24:19
that's a that's a good thing you know
24:20
nobody should really be driving 30
24:22
minutes to fill up olive oil like that's
24:24
not
24:25
that's not the balance there isn't
24:26
really right right and so um i think
24:28
it's more about trying to you know
24:30
educate and also just let people know
24:32
there are alternatives to kind of change
24:33
that mindset so that the people that
24:35
live close to you are the ones that are
24:36
you know your store
24:37
and so that's really what we're trying
24:39
to do here and you know i'm sure i have
24:41
other ideas um i'll put them out there
24:43
in your verse maybe later yeah yeah but
24:44
you know at the end of the day we're
24:46
just we're trying to innovate and kind
24:47
of keep it interesting yeah and also
24:49
just you know make sure we have that
24:50
opportunity to kind of reach as many
24:52
people as possible because i do believe
24:54
and this is the truth you know every jar
24:56
makes a difference we do say one jar at
24:58
a time because maybe you just start with
24:59
olive oil maybe that's your thing or
25:01
maybe it's our spice cabinet you know or
25:02
spice rack or maybe it's you know i
25:05
don't know you love our granola so you
25:06
just come here every week and get that
25:07
but i do think that routine and that
25:09
creation for routine is really important
25:11
and really allows people to then become
25:13
more comfortable with you know adding in
25:15
gradual change because nobody is saying
25:16
that you need to revamp your pantry
25:18
overnight that is very intimidating and
25:21
at the end of the day doesn't really do
25:23
anyone any good because usually things
25:25
like that don't last because they're
25:26
it's like a bad diet yeah you don't do
25:28
it because you feel like this is too
25:29
overwhelming like a new year's
25:30
resolution lasts like a week and then
25:31
you're like i'm done with this start
25:32
small one thing that really matters to
25:34
you and then eventually you'll add in
25:36
more because that's just how it goes
25:37
that's how i got my husband to do things
25:39
you know i was like oh should we compost
25:41
he's like i'm like all right let's just
25:43
try for a week let's see how that goes
25:44
and then we were composting and then you
25:45
know i was like i think i'm gonna take
25:46
away our paper towels and he was like
25:48
what and i was like just give me a
25:49
minute let's just see you know but every
25:50
month it was like one new thing right
25:52
and now here we are you know not perfect
25:54
but certainly yeah right doing our part
25:56
i feel like better than we were let's
25:57
say a couple years ago definitely and
25:58
that was actually great because i was
26:00
literally about to ask you like if
26:01
people are listening to this they're
26:02
like well i don't live close to dry
26:03
goods refillary or montclair or one of
26:06
these other places i have gone on
26:07
litterless and it's too far for me to
26:09
drive to any of these places what would
26:10
have been some maybe advice that you
26:12
would give them and you literally just
26:14
gave them the perfect advice just take
26:16
it slow take it slow i mean i think we
26:17
started with my kids water bottles like
26:19
literally every day we leave this house
26:21
everybody gets their water bottle um
26:22
yeah you know um
26:24
just just staring at that pulling spring
26:26
over there just like you know it's
26:27
giving me anxiety but it's all good no
26:28
free ads for people yes
26:31
definitely not um so anyway you know yes
26:33
i think that's a good one what i can say
26:35
to people especially in the food realm
26:36
like if you don't live near a place like
26:38
ours i still you know might need to pick
26:40
up things obviously at a regular grocery
26:41
store sometimes but i think
26:43
you know just remember that every dollar
26:45
you spend is a vote as they say for the
26:47
world that you want right so if you go
26:50
into a standard grocery store whatever
26:51
that may be and there are carrots in a
26:54
bla in a bag or loose ones or some other
26:56
produce or you know whatever pick the
26:58
things that you can that support you
27:00
know the kind of things that you want
27:02
because i assure you from the history i
27:03
have as a retailer yeah they're making
27:05
decisions based off money that's the
27:06
only thing they're doing and so if you
27:08
know that plastic you know new plastic
27:10
tomato sauce doesn't move but the glass
27:12
one keeps selling they're gonna keep
27:13
buying the glass one yeah and that's it
27:15
and so i think you know you can make a
27:17
difference even without any fancy things
27:19
around you just by thinking about where
27:21
you put your money and the kind of
27:23
businesses that you support and that's
27:24
it so yeah fantastic all right so we're
27:27
going to take our second break our last
27:29
break of this episode uh this is the
27:31
greetings from the garden state podcast
27:32
i'm mike ham we're here at dry goods
27:34
refillary in montclair new jersey with
27:35
rachel garcia we'll be right back
27:39
it is time for new jersey fun fact of
27:41
the day did you know new jersey state
27:43
bug is the honeybee and that is your new
27:45
jersey fun fact of the day
27:49
all right we're back with our last
27:51
segment of the greetings from the garden
27:52
state podcast today uh we're here at dry
27:54
goods refillary montclair new jersey
27:56
with rachel garcia i'm mike hamm so in
27:58
the first segment we talked a little bit
27:59
about the background of the business
28:00
what people can expect coming in here
28:02
some of the rules and regulations of how
28:03
they're supposed to handle themselves
28:05
when they're in here um and then the
28:06
second segment we talked a little bit
28:07
about um you know how it's been
28:09
navigating the last year and a half um
28:12
because obviously that's been the
28:12
lifespan of the business especially um
28:15
and then kind of uh the
28:17
future maybe some future plans yeah um
28:20
and then also uh maybe some tips for
28:22
people um kind of expanding on their
28:25
yeah we've got lots of tips we got a lot
28:26
of keep going on the test we could
28:27
definitely do yeah right but what i do
28:29
want to do is the way we kind of run the
28:30
show is the last segment we always try
28:32
to tie it back
28:34
into the community because this is a
28:35
podcast that celebrates stuff in our
28:38
communities it's amazing
28:39
100 that's great we have a great
28:41
community here in montclair exactly so
28:42
we'd be happy to talk about it right so
28:44
let's talk about it so the in the
28:46
beginning part we talked about how you
28:47
you know work with a lot of local
28:48
businesses and you have the hummus here
28:50
you have the coffee here you have all
28:52
these other things um and we i found out
28:54
in the last segment that you've only
28:56
been here since september 2nd you said
28:59
right so
29:00
only at the time of this recording for
29:01
maybe like two months
29:03
almost a month and a half yeah
29:05
yeah um so but this is gonna post in
29:07
december so you know a couple months by
29:09
then but what was it like kind of coming
29:11
into this space reaching out to those
29:14
local businesses and getting the support
29:16
that you did get from them it is so
29:19
incredible here in montclair i really
29:21
cannot say enough and i mean that from
29:24
the bottom of my heart this community
29:26
whether it is just i mean we came to
29:28
this community and announced our our
29:30
launch into montclair you know in this
29:32
this first plastic for grocery new
29:33
jersey blah blah blah
29:35
i shouldn't blah blah blah blah blah
29:36
blah but you know what i'm saying right
29:38
and we but we announced this idea and
29:40
and part of that was we actually
29:41
launched um an indigogo campaign because
29:43
we wanted to get the community excited
29:44
we wanted the community involved we
29:46
wanted them to be a part of creating
29:48
this vision that we had uh and also you
29:50
know getting them excited about it and
29:52
you know obviously the community
29:53
individually was really excited we
29:55
reached our 20 000 goal which was
29:57
incredible yeah but you know there were
29:59
partners like le french dad and paper
30:01
plane coffee who signed on without
30:03
really knowing much about us i mean they
30:04
knew of us in maplewood maybe but it
30:06
wasn't like we were friends they didn't
30:08
know much about it they just said wow
30:09
this is a cool concept or while we you
30:11
know love small business i mean i don't
30:13
know their whole reasons you'll have to
30:14
ask them right but at the end of the day
30:15
they've been amazing partners since day
30:17
one no like you know proof of friendship
30:20
needed you know they've just been really
30:21
amazing to work with and they continue
30:22
to be in our store um and so that was
30:25
you know something special i thought for
30:26
sure and then as we've grown it's just
30:28
it's fallen into place you know one
30:30
person leads to another person we have
30:32
neighbors here on our block who are just
30:34
happy to help you know whether it's you
30:35
know helping us find electrician which
30:37
we needed for you know refrigeration you
30:39
know kind of thing like oh yeah i got a
30:40
great guy you know to hey do you want to
30:42
like pool or resources for blah blah
30:44
there's a great business association up
30:46
here that you know really um upper
30:48
montclair business association umba um
30:51
who is just you know really cool with
30:52
sidewalk sales and and really about
30:54
trying to get you know small and large
30:55
businesses and mainstay businesses and
30:57
new businesses like ours you know really
30:59
integrated into the community which is
31:00
really cool um and so
31:02
you know whether it's vendors that we
31:04
particularly work with who we just love
31:06
spreading the love about because we've
31:08
genuinely you know won they're super
31:09
delicious which is really important to
31:11
me right and to you know the idea of you
31:13
know we want you to trust us we put the
31:15
effort into making it really good um but
31:17
also that you know they're they're hyper
31:18
local and they're also you know really
31:20
big drivers of the community so i i just
31:22
i cannot say enough good things about
31:23
montclair it just feels like such a home
31:25
here already even though we've only been
31:26
here you know like you said in like six
31:28
weeks right um the community is so
31:30
welcoming that it feels like we've been
31:32
here a lot longer to be honest yeah yeah
31:34
which is awesome and i think that that
31:36
just kind of goes back to a lot of the
31:37
things that we've talked about on this
31:38
show is just kind of like how
31:40
you know these businesses i mean we were
31:42
joking before we even sat down like you
31:44
know i'm just here to make money like
31:46
and i'm sure that there's businesses
31:47
that exist out there but we've been
31:48
lucky enough we need to make money let's
31:50
be clear
31:52
i'm not you know a lottery winner in
31:54
surprise here like we need to make money
31:56
the objective of any business is to make
31:58
money but i think that we've said this a
32:00
million times on this show so far is
32:02
that like it's one of those things i
32:03
think where the more
32:05
good that you put out into the world
32:08
the general you try to you're going to
32:10
attract those types of people back to
32:12
you yeah you know what i mean like you
32:13
come with this concept and you have like
32:15
this you know idea and you reach out to
32:17
these local businesses but the good that
32:18
you're putting out into the world you
32:19
got that good back you know in spades
32:23
yes i hope that they feel it from us i'm
32:25
assuming they do but i would hope that
32:27
they do um because really that is
32:29
equally as important to me i just feel
32:30
like you know being a good human yeah is
32:33
an important thing in this world right
32:34
sometimes lost in the world of business
32:36
and i just don't feel
32:38
like you know it has to be one or the
32:39
other i think you can you know run a
32:41
really you know hopefully very
32:42
successful business but just you know
32:44
doing something that you love and also
32:45
you know being that advocate in your
32:47
community or being a part of the
32:48
community in a way that um you know
32:50
i think you know gives you a lot of
32:52
fulfillment in a totally different like
32:54
vertical of your life right and that i
32:56
you know don't think is necessarily
32:57
filled just by like you know crunching
32:58
numbers you know i like both but you
33:00
know it's nice to feel good about what
33:01
you're doing and feel like it's
33:02
meaningful right um and then when we get
33:06
into kind of like looking beyond those
33:07
local businesses and looking into the
33:09
community as a whole around here i mean
33:11
i know you've only been in this location
33:13
for you know just a few weeks the time
33:14
of this recording but what are some ways
33:16
maybe that you guys are getting
33:18
yourselves involved in the community
33:19
maybe around here or maybe even
33:21
expanding it a little bit further
33:22
to kind of help at least get the message
33:24
out about what you're trying to do i
33:26
mean again i think you know we don't try
33:28
and perceive ourselves as like experts
33:30
on anything but i think you know we'd
33:31
love to kind of open people's eyes maybe
33:33
to something they haven't heard of
33:34
before just from our experience and
33:36
knowledge and by our kind of in the
33:38
situation mine but um you know and so i
33:40
do um you know do speak to like
33:42
sustainability clubs montclair state
33:44
university isn't far from here um i'd
33:46
spoken with someone at seton hall before
33:48
i've talked to you know other people who
33:49
contact me because they're writing a
33:50
thesis on something and they want to
33:52
just talk to somebody in the zero waste
33:53
as we call it you know movement right we
33:55
could go into that too it's not really
33:56
my favorite term um it seems very
33:58
intimidating and unachievable um but
34:00
that's kind of what people you know
34:02
search for and talk about when they say
34:03
our store it's a zero waste and that's
34:05
whatever a different conversation for
34:06
another day yeah um but anywho uh you
34:09
know that whole idea of kind of you know
34:11
talking to the community is something
34:13
that we do a lot of uh and then actually
34:15
i would really like to be more involved
34:17
we have an amazing um you know montclair
34:19
climate action here in town is doing um
34:21
you know a march coming up um probably
34:23
will have er done by the time you know
34:25
uh this airs but we'd like to be
34:26
involved with that as much as possible
34:28
um and then also you know little things
34:30
we feel like you know being and living
34:32
sustainably is not just about what we do
34:34
it's about other things uh we have you
34:37
know trash pickups and things that we
34:38
want to be a part of you know where we
34:40
incentivize our customers to you know
34:42
reuse some of the containers that we get
34:44
that are you know inevitable just as
34:45
part of you know any supply chain and so
34:48
let's reuse those over and over to pick
34:49
up trash in our communities and maybe we
34:51
incentivize those people by you know
34:52
allowing them to come back you know with
34:54
a photo of them at the bucket full and
34:56
say okay we'll give you you know a
34:57
couple bucks off your order or something
34:59
you know just to kind of get people
35:00
excited about being a part of the bigger
35:02
community at large because it is
35:03
important and you know that's why
35:05
i came back to new jersey after you know
35:07
some time away it's really you know not
35:09
impossible but it's really lovely here
35:11
and the communities here really do make
35:13
it something special and and montclair
35:15
is absolutely no exception right 100 so
35:18
um also you know you mentioned kind of
35:19
like customers and and i think in the
35:21
second segment we talked a little bit
35:23
about regular customers yeah um so like
35:25
sometimes we like a lot of times we like
35:26
to look back the other way so obviously
35:28
like the business itself can put itself
35:31
out there in the community but again
35:33
putting the good out you're attracting
35:35
people that you vibe with
35:37
the regular customers the community as a
35:39
whole here like you know looking the
35:41
other way
35:42
what's that relationship been like has
35:44
that been it's obviously been pretty
35:45
positive so i mean we always joke with
35:47
people we're like if you buy nothing
35:48
just tell two or three people about us
35:49
please
35:50
that's all that's the best thing you can
35:52
actually do than buy like a thing of
35:53
cheese that we have which by the way is
35:55
delicious and it comes from van hook and
35:56
i have to say that because they're
35:57
incredible partners well and i haven't
35:58
talked about them anyway they're down in
36:00
grocery is that the one that you said
36:01
that you had they're amazing um they cut
36:03
cheese fresh for us like also you know
36:04
parmesan things we can't only get
36:06
without plastic whatever anyway um so
36:09
shout out to them but either way um you
36:11
know those customers have really been
36:13
they'll say oh we hope you do well here
36:14
i'm like you are the responsible party
36:16
here like you need to go talk to people
36:18
and tell them that we even exist i mean
36:19
i don't i joke because we obviously have
36:21
a responsibility to do our part right
36:23
but i think that's really been helpful
36:25
um and actually we um are rolling out
36:28
and by the time this airs it will
36:29
definitely be full on um a loyalty
36:31
program because we really believe that
36:33
we want to you know
36:35
basically reward people who are not only
36:37
just trying to come in on a regular
36:39
basis or trying to do their part but who
36:41
are you know out there doing good in the
36:42
community and spreading the word it's
36:44
really important and
36:45
i don't feel like stores like ours would
36:46
succeed without the community so
36:48
anything that we can think of or do to
36:50
you know feel more that we're part of it
36:53
and they're part of us is is
36:55
instrumental in this mission because the
36:56
mission itself doesn't succeed unless
36:58
the community around you is involved
37:00
with it as well yeah and that goes like
37:01
we said from all these different parts
37:03
you know whether it's us to them them to
37:05
us business to business it's really
37:06
about trying to work together and you
37:08
know we haven't done any numbers in this
37:10
new store because it's been a little
37:11
hectic getting off the ground but you
37:12
know in our other store within a year we
37:14
saved 25 000 25 000 i'm sorry containers
37:17
from a landfill in a year right in one
37:19
little store that was just like a proof
37:21
of concept thing and it really shows you
37:23
that the community when they come
37:24
together can move the needle can you do
37:26
something together because you know you
37:28
think it's just one water bottle it's
37:30
just one whatever exactly but if you
37:31
save all of those things because that
37:33
person refills their olive oil or the
37:35
next person you know refills their three
37:36
things those two and three and five and
37:38
ten things all add up and then you're
37:40
talking about 25 000 containers that
37:42
didn't go to the garbage because they
37:44
were reused instead right or we filled
37:45
in our case so um so yeah i think that
37:48
community you know is a total
37:49
partnership and it's really important
37:51
that we're all kind of you know fused
37:52
together helping each other out because
37:54
that's why we're doing this yeah 100 so
37:56
if people are listening to this and
37:58
being light and saying to themselves boy
38:00
i want to be a part of this dry goods
38:02
refillary community come join us we have
38:05
a really good time here right exactly so
38:07
what are ways that they can do so i mean
38:10
let's take it let's give them the
38:11
website they can go learn more there so
38:12
our website is very simple it's dry
38:15
goods refillary that's r-e-f-i-l-l-e
38:18
not distillery dry goods refillery but i
38:20
think we got a good that's a good
38:22
business concept we should we should
38:23
talk i know we should definitely talk
38:24
about that there's something there um
38:26
and also if you can find out how to
38:27
change the law to get like refillable
38:29
beer going on in here yeah right yeah
38:31
other different conversations yeah um so
38:33
dragonsourfillery.com is our website
38:35
there's lots of information there where
38:36
to find us our online shop will be up
38:38
and running our loyalty program
38:39
information all of those things and then
38:41
also um you know we got a pretty decent
38:43
instagram following going on we feel
38:44
really good about um kind of engaging
38:46
with our customers that way um it's also
38:48
on facebook but um just same thing
38:50
handle is dry goods or fillers so that's
38:52
how we connected yes it is how we
38:53
connected but it's the really the i
38:55
don't know sad reality of the day isn't
38:57
it it's like the easiest way to get in
38:58
touch but it helps and then we were able
38:59
to kind of show people what we have in
39:01
store they can follow along they can see
39:03
when our bread delivery arrives and our
39:05
cocktails are you know we have cocktail
39:06
kits that come like once a week and okay
39:08
the drop came you know and yeah it does
39:10
incentivize people to come in and know
39:11
what's going on in the store without you
39:12
know picking up the phone so if you want
39:14
to call us as well we have a phone
39:16
number you can google that i don't
39:17
remember it off the top of my head but
39:18
we have a phone number you can call us
39:19
and uh we'll answer any questions i know
39:22
but yeah we have one you need to call
39:24
and you're interested in calling but
39:26
yeah my guess is if you're listening to
39:27
a podcast you probably have other ways
39:28
to get in touch right you're probably
39:29
looking at the website right now or you
39:31
know the instagram page and listening to
39:32
the end of this episode so um awesome
39:35
that was amazing so um again that i'll
39:39
make sure that i put the um the website
39:41
and the instagram handle in the show
39:42
notes for everybody listening what's the
39:43
address here oh sorry yes we're located
39:45
at 193 bellevue avenue so we're just two
39:48
blocks uh away from the uptown train
39:50
station in montclair uh montclair is
39:52
quite a large city but we are in the
39:53
uptown section in the commercial
39:54
district so yeah come see us at 193
39:56
bellevue right and bring your you know
39:58
reusable bags but they have bags here in
40:00
jars bring your bags or jars if you
40:02
don't and you just want to check it out
40:03
we got a paper bag we can talk you
40:05
through it don't feel the pressure just
40:06
you know come see what it's all about
40:08
and uh and you know take it one jar at a
40:10
time of course yeah and give a fig i
40:12
keep looking at it yeah
40:13
that's our tagline but we feel really
40:15
good about it you know we're a little
40:16
cheeky and a little fun and a little bit
40:17
intimidating so we're plastic free
40:19
groceries who give a fig yeah and we do
40:21
right awesome so uh rachel this was an
40:23
amazing episode i thank you for having
40:25
you having me here um and coming on the
40:27
show and and all that this was your
40:28
first podcast episode it's my first
40:30
podcast yeah i don't want to say the
40:32
term but yes you've
40:34
you've
40:35
introduced me to the world of podcasting
40:37
and i'm forever grateful thank you so
40:38
much right no it was fantastic i mean i
40:40
think you crushed your first podcast
40:41
episode of course i'm blushing for
40:43
anybody that can't see right yeah if
40:45
you're listening you can't see but if
40:46
you're on youtube you can see so fair
40:48
enough um
40:49
yeah right exactly me too but it's just
40:51
because i'm wearing a hoodie in here but
40:52
um awesome so again thank you thank you
40:55
and everybody that's listening thank you
40:57
for listening uh we'll make sure that we
40:59
put the website instagram handle like i
41:01
already said in there the greetings from
41:02
the garden state uh stuff will be in
41:04
there as well
41:05
this has been the greetings from the
41:06
garden state podcast we're at dry goods
41:08
refillery in montclair new jersey with
41:09
rachel garcia i'm mike hamm thank you
41:11
for listening and we'll catch you next
41:12
time
41:22
[Music]
41:22
[Applause]
41:24
[Music]
41:30
[Music]
41:33
to talk yeah
41:48
you
