In this recurring theme, we will focus on our retailers. These are awesome idealistic places where you get to buy our Pure Goods. We value them a lot, because they tell our story, provide the consumers with good service and good products. For this week’s blog, we have interviewed Mimi Sewalski from Avocadostore, which is one of the largest online stores in Germany for ethical products.
Avocadostore: A one-stop shop for the green market.
Avocadostore was founded in 2010 to create a platform for new ethical labels, designers and green startups, where they can sell online without taking big risks or doing huge investments themselves. The main reason to start Avocadostore was that in the bigger cities of Germany, the first eco-labels were coming up. However, they were difficult to find and still quite small as well. Avocadostore brought sustainability and digitalism together (as one of the first stores), and gave those brands a stage to present themselves and eventually grow as a label. A big benefit for the labels, but also for the consumer. Avocadostore’s mission was to become the green version of Amazon, showing how fun sustainability is. “Nowadays we prefer to say: On Avocadostore you find for every common product the better sustainable alternative”. At one place you can find everything the green market has to offer. From vegan shoes to baby stuff, from food to cosmetics and of course your favourite eco jeans.
‘On Avocadostore.de you can find for every common product the better, sustainable alternative.’
Mimi started at Avocadostore after meeting one of the two founders at a green trade show. They asked her to join the team after, which she started immediately the day after. Talking about motivation! The concept of Avocadostore fits Mimi’s own vision perfectly. Since she was a child, she always wanted to protect nature and she tried to reduce her footprint by saving water and recycling. Mimi is quite optimistic about the future. “Seeing that, for example, eco fashion is not only a trend but a movement. It started with only a few people and is getting bigger every day!”. Mimi is still trying to minimise her footprint for example by saving water and energy, growing her own vegetables when possible. She has some great shopping tips for us as well: “Before I want to buy anything I ask myself three questions:
- Do I really need this?
- Who made it, where does it come from?
- Can I get it somewhere else? Is there a better alternative like repairing, second hand or a more environmentally friendly option?
Those questions help me a lot to maintain a sustainable lifestyle.”
Never a dull moment at Avocadostore
Mimi has been working at Avocadostore since their start in 2010. One of the things she loves most, is the fact she works with and meets many amazing people that really want to change the world. Besides this, she loves the fact that she never knows what the next day will look like. As Avocadostore is growing quite fast, new tasks and challenges are coming up on a daily basis. “I am a real generalist, meaning I know everything quite well, but I am not a specialist. This is perfect for a startup.” Mimi loves starting new things and the challenge of developing creative ideas on a tight schedule.
When Mimi just started at Avocadostore she used to handle the buying process all by herself, but nowadays a buying team is responsible for between 30-50 brands (fashion and non-fashion).
‘Why not talk more about what we buy and why we buy it? We do it with food, why not with fashion?’
According to Mimi, there are some ways to make people more aware of the impact of the fashion industry. One of the ways is to realise that wem as consumer, actually vote whenever we buy, Mimi says. “So why not talk more about what we buy and why we buy it? We do it with food, why not with fashion?” Furthermore, the government has to take responsibility, this is something that’s already starting to happen in Germany: “in our country, the “Textilbündnis” is doing the first very important steps in forcing especially the big players into commitments about their roadmaps and goals for a better fashion industry.” Last but not least, Mimi believes that information is key. “The more someone knows, the less one wants to consume non-eco”.
‘Fair fashion is not a trend, it is the future and it is a movement.’
Mimi is positive about the future when it comes to fair fashion as more and more eco brands start offering cool styles. At Avocadostore you can buy more than just clothes, the variety they offer helps them to find more people who want to try a green lifestyle. ‘Some start with plastic free and buy kitchen stuff, while others make their first steps with cosmetics’. Avocadostore allows you to choose what will be your first sustainable step and makes it easy to explore your next steps.
Geweldig artikel.