Tucked into the Roosevelt neighborhood at the corner of 65th and 16th, Ravenna Refills celebrated its one-year anniversary just a month and a half ago. It’s part refillery, part gift shop, part community hub, and entirely the kind of place that makes you feel good about spending money. We sat down with co-owner Robin to talk about how the shop came to be, what you’ll find on the shelves, and why community sits at the heart of everything they do. Intentionalist’s motto is spend like it matters, and Robin is living that out every single day.
Hi! Tell us about yourself and how Ravenna Refills came to be?
I make body care and have been doing so for the last 12 years. It’s kind of been my side hustle, if you will. I mostly did markets and things locally. Josh and Jenny purchased this lovely building when it was for sale here in the neighborhood and opened up Ravenna Rocks. They had this lovely space in the back, which was actually the home of the owner. It used to be Silhouette Antiques up front, and Lucia lived back here. Josh and Jenny had plans to turn this into a refill shop, and they knew me through my body care. It kind of happened organically that we all ended up here together, doing this together.
It’s a huge dream come true. I’ve always wanted my own shop. It never seemed feasible, if I’m honest. But here we are. I’ve always been sustainable in life. Since I was young, I’ve always gone to thrift stores first and bought secondhand, and my buy nothing group is a huge deal in our house. In fact, everything in here has either been thrifted, made, or from my buy nothing group. It’s been really fun building this shop on that sustainability model.
How has the community responded since you opened?
The community has been so warm and welcoming. It’s such a wonderful feeling. Everyone comes in in a really good mood. They’re excited about the products, excited about the colors, excited about just having a unique shop like this. We’re basically building our dream shop that didn’t exist. We’re putting all of our favorite things, and really cool things that we’re discovering that happen to be good for the planet and good for you, all in one spot. People can either start their plastic-free journey or we can meet them wherever they are. We have everything you could need that you use every day, right here in their neighborhood.
What can shoppers find at Ravenna Refills?
We have everything you would need and use every day in your daily life, in a nice convenient way, minus the plastic and crap ingredients. We have everything from body care and oral health, toothpaste tabs, things like that. Lots of laundry stuff: laundry powder, laundry sheets, laundry liquid, dryer sheets, dryer balls. A lot of face care. We have a plant-based non-petroleum jelly that’s really popular, so instead of Vaseline. Lots of kitchen stuff to help you get away from plastic: bamboo kitchen utensils, scrubbers that aren’t plastic, Mason jar lids. We have a lot of Stasher bags, which are silicone bags that are great for leftovers instead of Ziploc bags. Period products, from period underwear to 100% cotton tampons. Essential oils, shampoo and conditioner bars as a nice alternative to liquid, and a lot of really nice handcrafted soaps, many made locally as well.
What’s the experience like for a first-time customer?
If you’re coming into our shop for the very first time, I always offer a tour. You can say yes or no, but if you decide on it, I just give you a quick little tour of the sections of our shop. We have a lot going on in here. It is a small but mighty shop. We have a lot of stuff in every little corner, so I like to explain where everything is so people don’t feel overwhelmed.
If you’re coming in to refill, you can bring in your own containers. I weigh those first, write that down, and just minus that from whatever you fill. Everything you fill is completely up to you, however much you fill. It’s nice because you can try small amounts and see how they work for you. If you’re just starting out, it’s a really good spot to begin because we can figure out what you’re comfortable starting with and pick one or two things and go from there.
Do you get a mix of customers?
We get a lovely mix, from those just starting out who have quite literally no idea where to start on their plastic-free journey, all the way to those that are super hardcore and bring in their spaghetti jars that they’ve been using for 10 years. I love meeting everyone on their different path, because we have something for everyone. Everything we carry is very relatable. It’s literally laundry powder and shampoo, the things that we’re all using every day. We’re just taking away the toxic ingredients and the plastic.
What are a few products you’d recommend for someone just starting out?
For hair care, my favorite, favorite is our Dip shampoo and conditioner bars. We also have Sea Bar shampoo and conditioner bars, and they’re local. Those completely changed my game.
We also have these lovely toothpaste tabs that are really convenient and work so well. They foam up so great. They are fluoride-free, but they’re made with nanohydroxyapatite, which actually reinforces the enamel on your teeth. They’re great for camping and traveling, too.
And in the kitchen, beeswax wraps are a great place to start. You can wrap your leftover food or your lunch, and they come in a lot of fun patterns.
Ravenna Refills is more than just a shop. Can you tell us about the community side of things?
We love to foster the feeling of community. We have a mutual aid shelf on the porch that has non-perishable foods that people can bring in. There’s always a need. We started it when snap benefits collapsed, but we decided to keep it going. Non-perishable foods are there for anyone in the community.
We also have a pay-it-forward program where people can purchase gift cards and we stock the Community Apothecary with things like period products, hand soap, laundry sheets, and eco toilet paper. The community gives into that fund together.
We have three swaps a month, which are free events for anyone to join: a clothing swap, a puzzle swap, and then we rotate between a book and a tarot swap at the end of the month. It’s so much fun because I love seeing all the different people in the neighborhood come together and do something for free. These items aren’t going very far, and they’re definitely not going to a landfill.
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of being there for our community in all the ways. Not just being a refill shop that’s good for the planet and doing our part for future generations, but our swaps and our community shelf on the porch. That’s what really warms my heart. When people come and actually take what they need. When they come and swap and meet people and find a book in common, or see a shirt hang up on the rack and come back down and everyone’s laughing. Just the community aspect of it. We’ve been open a year and our cup overfloweth with the love and generosity of this community. I’m really proud of that.
Ravenna Refills is located at the corner of 65th and 16th in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood. Stop in to start or continue your plastic-free journey, pick up a thoughtful gift, or just say hello.
