Full Circle Foods moves into new location on King St.

After almost 18 years, Kitchener’s grocery and bulk store, Full Circle Foods, has moved one block away to their new location on 16 King St. E.

Full Circle owners Sam Nabi and Julia Gogoleva, opened their new King St. E. location on Oct. 6. The two have owned and operated the business since 2018, and aims to sell healthy, local, plant-based foods with a focus on zero-waste shopping. 

“There’s definitely a lot of community support behind Full Circle,” Nabi said. “It’s the kind of place where, even before Julia and I took over ownership, we would always run into our friends there. We are really happy to be taking it on and bringing it into this new home.”

According to Nabi, there are two major reasons for the move. The first is the trend of small and independent downtown businesses who were beginning to ditch the rental market and instead purchase properties.

“The rates right now are much higher than we would be spending monthly to actually pay the mortgage of the building we just purchased,” Nabi said. 

A five-year contract was also coming up for renewal at Full Circle’s Charles St. location and the building had been sold—this is when both owners started to look at other options. 

With the help of two more friends, they purchased a three-story building on King Street, which is being used for commercial and residential real estate. 

“We definitely wanted to stay downtown, even though we had the idea of moving away from our previous location. It was really important to us that Full Circle stays in the neighbourhood and continues to provide that service for our neighbours.” 

Both Nabi and Gogoleva and their regular customers are already enjoying their new space on King St. E. 

“It’s a fantastic space for the store. It’s right at the intersection of King and Queen and it took us a creative path to get there,” Nabi said. “There are certain customers that have been shopping at Full Circle since 1981 that are still shopping with us today. We’re very grateful that they followed us through four different moves.”

This is now the fifth location Full Circle Foods has been situated in Kitchener. Before their long-term location on Charles St., the business was also located on Victoria St., King St., and Weber and Victoria St., which was their first location in 1981.  

The new space features a new layout and some new products, including more variety to their bulk section. To include a more zero-waste approach, the store features their own return system where customers can borrow a jar for a dollar  and get it back once the jar is returned, as long as it is cleaned. Customers can also earn a point every time they bring a returnable glass jar or bottle back to the store and redeem points towards their purchases.

With the opening of their new space, the business is also planning another big event this year—their 40th anniversary celebration on Nov. 17. 

“​​We haven’t finalized all the details yet, but there will be some products on sale during our anniversary week. We will [also] have some surprises to give away from our vendors and local suppliers, so there may be a chance to win a gift basket or product samples,” Nabi said.

After almost 18 years, Kitchener’s grocery and bulk store, Full Circle Foods, has moved one block away to their new location on 16 King St. E.

Full Circle owners Sam Nabi and Julia Gogoleva, opened their new King St. E. location on Oct. 6. The two have owned and operated the business since 2018, and aims to sell healthy, local, plant-based foods with a focus on zero-waste shopping. 

“There’s definitely a lot of community support behind Full Circle,” Nabi said. “It’s the kind of place where, even before Julia and I took over ownership, we would always run into our friends there. We are really happy to be taking it on and bringing it into this new home.”

According to Nabi, there are two major reasons for the move. The first is the trend of small and independent downtown businesses who were beginning to ditch the rental market and instead purchase properties.

“The rates right now are much higher than we would be spending monthly to actually pay the mortgage of the building we just purchased,” Nabi said. 

A five-year contract was also coming up for renewal at Full Circle’s Charles St. location and the building had been sold—this is when both owners started to look at other options. 

With the help of two more friends, they purchased a three-story building on King Street, which is being used for commercial and residential real estate. 

“We definitely wanted to stay downtown, even though we had the idea of moving away from our previous location. It was really important to us that Full Circle stays in the neighbourhood and continues to provide that service for our neighbours.” 

Both Nabi and Gogoleva and their regular customers are already enjoying their new space on King St. E. 

“It’s a fantastic space for the store. It’s right at the intersection of King and Queen and it took us a creative path to get there,” Nabi said. “There are certain customers that have been shopping at Full Circle since 1981 that are still shopping with us today. We’re very grateful that they followed us through four different moves.”

This is now the fifth location Full Circle Foods has been situated in Kitchener. Before their long-term location on Charles St., the business was also located on Victoria St., King St., and Weber and Victoria St., which was their first location in 1981.  

The new space features a new layout and some new products, including more variety to their bulk section. To include a more zero-waste approach, the store features their own return system where customers can borrow a jar for a dollar  and get it back once the jar is returned, as long as it is cleaned. Customers can also earn a point every time they bring a returnable glass jar or bottle back to the store and redeem points towards their purchases.

With the opening of their new space, the business is also planning another big event this year—their 40th anniversary celebration on Nov. 17. 

“​​We haven’t finalized all the details yet, but there will be some products on sale during our anniversary week. We will [also] have some surprises to give away from our vendors and local suppliers, so there may be a chance to win a gift basket or product samples,” Nabi said.