A MOTHER and daughter have taken a leap of faith and are opening their second South-West eco grocery store in the area.

Stamena and Leny Dimitrova first opened the doors to Refillable, a sustainable grocery, cafe and deli in Bath, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now the pair have decided to expand their business to Tetbury and will be opening their second shop at 21 Market Place.

It will initially be a grocery offering sustainable and local products, with no single-use plastic in sight.

A bistro will open upstairs by the spring of 2025, allowing shoppers to eat and drink as well as browse.

The pair plan to open many more Refillable shops in the South West as time goes on.

Leny said: “We’ve always loved Tetbury, and we came across a unit that was becoming available some months ago.

“We are attracted by the independent trade scene, the beauty of the Cotswolds and the strong desire of people living in the area to preserve and protect their environment.

“We want to build links with local producers too, as where possible, we source products from the community.”

Stamena was born in Bulgaria and spent many years in South Africa, quickly realising that entrepreneurship was her forte.

She set up and ran several businesses before coming to the UK in 2016, with her daughter following a year later to study at the University of Bristol.

“Alongside my studies, I worked in the hospitality sector and realised I was learning - quite organically - a lot about consumer behaviour, as I’m very passionate about healthy eating and living sustainably,” Leny said.

“Being in the UK, my mum and I increasingly felt almost physically ill with every trip to the main supermarkets when we saw the mountain of non-recyclable plastic in our trolleys.

“In Johannesburg, we brought home very little plastic, and we realised we could offer the same here.”

“We found our Bath shop, which was absolutely dilapidated when we took it on,” Stamena said.

“We have managed to turn it into a beautiful space.”

Refillable’s Tetbury store is due to open at the end of November.