Bulk: a corner store in bulk

When you think of bulk, you imagine enormous, impersonal warehouses along unattractive, anonymous roads. Not so at Bulk, an organic local shop just a stone’s throw from Flageyplein/place Flagey.

In a small, unremarkable building, you can buy organic products and vegetables without worrying about waste. There is no messing about with plastic packaging at Bulk because zero plastic is their motto. The managers, the French-Madagascan Georges Hoareau and his uncle, actually wanted to run a fancy épicerie fine, but decided instead to open a pleasant local shop. They thought it would suit the neighbourhood better.

They sell nuts, pasta, coffee, chocolate, fruit, and vegetables in – you got it – bulk. But they also sell organic cosmetics and canned goods. Granted, Bulk does not offer a surprising range of products – we’ve seen most of their stock in other organic stores – but the scale of this shop makes it all the cosier. For example, you can get a 90-cent cup of coffee and hang around for a chat.

“We make a loss on the coffee, obviously, but we just love our chats with the customers,” Georges says. Here and there you can still see the odd box of pasta and biscuits. Minor flaws, Georges admits. “We’re giving ourselves a year to be completely waste-free,” he says. It is a promise to which we shall keep him.

di/ma/Tu > vr/ve/Fr: 08.30 > 19.30
za/sa/Sa: 09.30 > 19.00
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