The public company Snaga is planning to open an alternative shopping centre in the heart of the city – the first Slovenian shop without packaging, rental shop and multipurpose coffee shop – enabling sustainable consumer experience in one place.

The first Slovenian packaging-free shop is going to sell different grains, dried fruits, herbs, pasta, soap, oil, legumes, rice, coffee, cocoa… The shoppers bring their own packaging and weigh the empty container first, than they fill it with food and weigh it again so they pay for the actual amount of the product they are buying. For customers without their own packaging reusable packaging (cotton bags, glass jars…) is going to be available at the shop. Such shops create green jobs, they have a small environmental footprint as the majority of the produce doesn’t travel long distances (the items are locally produced or are fair trade products) and they don’t produce additional waste.
A multipurpose coffee shop is going to be housed under the same roof operating on the principles of reuse, upcycling, fair trade and social inclusion. The items to be sold in the coffee shop (coffee, juices, deserts, snacks) are going to be based on locally produced food and fair trade products.
As the creative and satisfied consumer is no longer attaching the greatest importance to what he possesses or buys but to what he can make, remake or (re)create, the coffee shop is going to promote learning handicrafts, such as sewing, crocheting or knitting, organise pop-up repair shops for smaller items, swap parties for clothing, fashion accessories, toys… The coffee shop shall also employ people at a disadvantage at the labour market.
The third part of the project is a rental shop using the library principle for loaning items needed only occasionally or for a short time (household and gardening tools – hammers, hedge trimmers, grinding machines, binoculars, microscopes, household appliances, sewing machines…)

The project »alternative shopping centre« is being developed in cooperation with the City of Ljubljana and numerous other partners.