New shop opens at Glasgow's Charing Cross with a mission to make green shopping easy

Saola first launched last year as a one-stop online shop aimed at simplifying the process of shopping for sustainable everyday items to make them more affordable and accessible to customers.

Now, the team behind Saola have finally opened their first space at Charing Cross which operates a storefront, café, and events space.

Co-founders Emily Foster and Max Haden are keen to find local makers and artists, using their store as a platform to promote small and independent creatives, and sell their wares alongside everyday items.

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Max said: “We looked for products that we would want to use in day-to-day life, not just things that we could gift, but things that were easy swaps, to make everyday life a little bit more sustainable.”

Saola stocks items like candles and jewellery alongside toothbrushes, glass water bottles, and vintage clothing.

Emily said: “I think, particularly in Glasgow at the moment, there are so many amazing local independent creators and suppliers, and people doing tonnes of cool stuff here.”

Max added: “The goal is giving the creators an extra place to sell but also, hopefully, help grow their audience.

“Someone might come in to buy some G12 vintage clothes, but then also see some of the jewellery that we do or the handmade candles.

“So, we're sort of just helping. Everybody's helping everybody out in a way, just growing exposure.

“It's hard to find people all the time because sometimes it's quite niche and you might not know about someone unless someone tells you.

“We've had people come in and tell us about their friends who do something who we can get in contact with.

“Word of mouth is such a powerful tool and sort of growing the whole circular economy.”

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A big part of the Saola ethos is to find people in Glasgow that have potentially been overlooked and don’t have the clout of larger businesses.

Emily said: “It might not be the top search, but those are the people we want to collaborate with.

“We are super open to that. And for events, [finding] people that run workshops as well, we're always looking for new people to work with.”

Max said: “Sustainable shopping made simple was the original plan.

“From there, it’s very much grown as we’ve developed, and the space was a huge factor in that, creating a space for collaboration to highlight the local aspect.

“Circular economy, and supporting local [is important], especially now because it’s a really rough time we’re going into.”

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The storefront is managed by Charlie Irvine who has been working on big plans for the use of the shop.

They currently host events like plant pot painting workshops and are open Wednesday to Sunday as a café.