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10 reviews for Earth's General Store
10 reviews in English
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Review from Matthew L.
Edmonton, AB
12/22/2011
It's a hippie store and it's proud of it. While still fairly pricey, the products are of high value - the store caters to those who want earthy, earth-friendly, high quality, and generally organic products without all of the conspicuous consumption complications of Planet Organic. You don't feel as if you're getting ripped off here.
The store features lots of vegetarian food, eco-friendly products, and a somewhat spaced-out, but well intentioned staff. It's great to have in the neighbourhood, but I'm still not keen on that facade. -
Review from Aditya R.
6/12/2011 9 Check-ins Here
If there's anyone who tells you not to check this place out, they'd have to be checked into a mental clinic!
You don't have to be a locavore.
You don't have to be a crazy, organic geek.
You don't have to believe in the green revolution.
You don't have to believe in global warming.
You'd still be able to visit this place and even without buying anything, be charmed by its simplicity. Of course, if you are any or all of the above, you'd probably have an orgasmic experience.
Quaint, petite and other such adjectives can describe the size and nature of this store that's located a stone's throwaway from the Milcreek ravine. Inside, there's perhaps an aisle and a half of fresh groceries - nothing tremendous to speak of - but invariably (always?) local. Maybe two or three aisles of home necessities from soaps smelling of herb like substances you'd normally find in a tropical forest in India, to cloth diapers and pads for those who believe that the world was far better 60 years ago. A few free-trade organic coffee bean containers to talk of, as well as a variety of loose and packaged teas. A couple dozen of bulk cans of grains and legumes from long grain white rice to unheard of high-altitutde Andean grains (not talking about Quinoa here!). Half a dozen of cereals and maybe 4 refrigerators of cold/frozen food ranging from dairy to tofukry burgers.
You enter the store and pick up a basket or a bag. It's not any basket. It's a cane basket, like as if you were picking up fruits from a tree and cloth bags that are re-usable for in-store shopping. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and always happy. Also, they have free donation jars in which you put plastic coins of different colors that are valued from 5¢ to 20 ¢ for various reasons from getting your own reusable bag, to biking to the store. Yes, the store donates money if you bike, recycle laundry jars, get your own bag etc. etc.
It's certainly a concept store and I try to shop here as and when I can. Even if you're not into the whole organic thing, do stop by and be enamored by it. They have a lot of books on gardening, healthy living etc. near the exit. Actually they have two full bookshelves of books! Come here and have a nice time -
Review from Alex P.
8/16/2011
I finally got around to checking out the new location.
Points off due to the smell. I'm not sure what exactly is creating that smell, but it was the reason I couldn't spend much time in the previous location and I'm still not fond of it. It's less strong now that the store is bigger, though.
Prices, like most organic stores, are hit and miss. Some stuff was cheaper at Earth's G, and some was more expensive (compared to other organic markets.)
I was impressed by some of the things you could buy there, including their fairly large bulk selection, recycled and hand-made paper, a HUGE book collection spanning a wide variety of topics, and a decent produce selection. Actually, I was extremely impressed by the sheer variety this store offers. It definitely fills in a lot of the niches (cloth pads and diapers, for example) that other organic stores miss.
I was, however, disappointed that for a lot of their soaps, the ingredients were not listed. I get bad allergic reactions to some soap ingredients so it's kind of important!
The people I interacted with were polite. The same sort of thing you'd expect to find at any grocery store. Not overly enthusiastic or anything, but helpful when I asked questions.
I will be back for books. That's a certainty. I'm still not sure if it's worth the trip for grocery items on a weekly basis though. -
Review from Kathy W.
Edmonton, AB
4/26/2012
I purchased a coupon/voucher for this store. I had planned to use up the voucher,. but ended up in the hospital for 19 days. I got out of the hospital the day after the coupon expired. I called the store, where a very rude young man said I was out of luck. I explained why I hadn't been able to come in by the expiry date, but he didn't care. I wrote an email to the owner of the store, and lo and behold, I got a response from the same very rude man. Vouchers/coupons are supposed to be to attract new customers, I can say that I will never enter the doorway of this business. I have made sure all of my friends and family (and even strangers) are aware of this unfriendly, unhelpful, uncaring store. In this day and age where we all need as many customers as we can get, the owner of this establishment obviously doesn't get the concept of caring, compassion and good business sense. There are plenty of other business who deserve my money and I will be spending my funds there.
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Review from Adam D.
8/11/2011
I give you one star because I really needed something from here yesterday and I showed up and you closed at like 7 or 8? not pleased. I work from 8 am till 6 p.m., so when I got there...... very dissatisfied. There were even employees still in there refusing my help. It was an emergency. Thanks. So i got an email stating that my reason wasnt good enought for a one star. so heres more, dont go in there dressed like your successful cause you will be labelled, I get no service just the hippie stoned look. Your hours are terrible, yes I bring this up again, cause your hours are terrible...at least post them better not on some cardboard faeded sign that you have to walk righ up to read. I also dont mind living the earth way but dont jam it down my throat..its like religion believe what you want but dont make others follow you. Sorry earth general store you suck.
OK SO IM GETTING A LOT OF NEGATIVE RESPONSE ON MY POST SO:
I gave it another try lastnight. What your open..yessss...what your the rudest person I meet who works there..thanks for no help....
DONE .....
Earth General store you dont exist to me. -
Review from Jeanette B.
Edmonton, AB
9/29/2008
I love Earth's General Store. Whenever I visit, there are so many things I want to buy. They have everything that is earth-friendly: menstrual products, notebooks, tights, baby things, food, cleaning products, metal water bottles, and tons more. There's also a large variety of magazines. I always pick up my feminist magazines here.
This store is located upstairs in an old building. When you walk around the store the floor creaks, which I love.
The downside is that everything in this store is expensive. But Earth's is a 100% independently owned store, and everything they sell is earth-friendly, and that's why I like to call it the "feel-good" store, because you can feel good about spending your money here! -
Review from Jeremy and alaka F.
Edmonton, AB
6/1/2010
This place is a little on the small side, and you might run into it completely by accident. Their big sign is really the biggest indicator that they're even there!
Having come from San Francisco, this is definitely one of my favorite places. They have eco-friendly and fair trade products from A to Z, they cover almost everything (I just wish they had groceries!). They have, by far, the best eco-friendly/organic/natural hair care and body products (from deodorants to massage oils to shampoos and conditioners) in the city!
It's not particularly dirt cheap, but in reality these are just the real prices we should be paying for things. Who seriously thinks we should be paying $1 for shampoo? If it doesn't show up on our price tag, the cost is still being paid somewhere else. And although definitely not cheap, I have found that a lot of the items ARE cheaper than elsewhere in the city --- which makes it cheap enough for me! I've seen a difference of between $3 and $10 cheaper here than for the identical products at Superstore or Planet Organic. I LOVE the biodegradable trash bags they sell that are wonderfully light on the packaging side, and the library for Vegetarians of Alberta is awesome! Has definitely become a regularly visited store for me. -
Review from Jack G.
Edmonton, AB
2/3/2010
Earth's General store is another store among the new wave of environmentally friendly shops appearing in the city.
Among the items they offer are notebooks, food, cleaning products, baby items, water bottles, clothing, books and more. The store is located on the 2nd floor of a building on Whyte Ave. A very old building. The staff is really helpful and can answer any questions you have.
If you live in the area and live this lifestyle this is a great spot for you. -
Review from Paula K.
Updated - 6/16/2010 1 photo
You absolutely have to check out Earth's new space. It's about three times the size of the old store, and now includes several aisles of dry foods and refrigerated/frozen goods - all vegetarian, of course. It is much easier to browse around, and there is still all of the staple items Earth's shoppers expect to find, like haircare products, reusable bags and drink containers, books, magazines, and my favourite - activist buttons. I bought a "Make Love, Not War" button there this afternoon - classic!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/7/2008
Earth's General Store is Edmonton's premier carrier of Fair Trade and environmentally-friendly… Read more »
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Review from Monika S.
Edmonton, AB
6/4/2011
What a great store and the staff are so nice, I must have been asked by three different people if I had any questions or needed any help. And I liked their system of rewarding you for bringing your own bags...you get a chit for each bag and you drop the chit into a box for one of three different charities that they support. You even get a chit for taking public transit or riding your bike to the store. They have a fresh produce section containing a good selection of a little bit of everything. And I like that you can bring your own container and refill a large selection of items including laundry detergent, shampoo, soy sauce and maple syrup. I found most of their prices to be comparable to Planet Organic, but I also found a number of items that had a better price than anywhere else in this city. If you want to really see what the store is all about, check out the link above for some interesting information.
