New Abingdon Shop Makes Room for Bulk and Local Goods

Most of the dry goods at Patchwork Provisions are sold by weight. Customers can bring their own containers or choose from a collection of donated glass jars that the store has cleaned, sanitized, and placed near the bulk-food displays.

For co-owner Joel Boggs, the system may be unfamiliar to some shoppers, but the idea behind it is not new.

“It’s definitely a different way of shopping for a lot of people, but it’s also kind of an old way of shopping, I think,” Boggs said. “Once people get used to it again, it’ll catch on.”

Joel Boggs and Michelle Edwards owners of Patchwork Provisions — Joel Boggs and Michelle Edwards

Boggs and his wife, Michelle Edwards, opened Patchwork Provisions at 274 W. Main St. in Abingdon on June 13. The store combines fresh produce, bulk foods and plant-based pantry staples with household refill products, secondhand clothing and items repurposed from older textiles.

The couple moved to the area from Asheville, North Carolina, about a year and a half before opening the store. Boggs said grocery cooperatives and other businesses offering bulk and low-waste shopping helped inspire the Abingdon operation.

“We like to shop as low-waste as possible and as local as possible and provide high-quality products and eat high-quality products,” he said.

Boggs described affordability, accessibility, waste reduction and plant-based foods as the store’s central priorities.

Locally grown produce, recycle containers, and reusable bags at Patchwork Provisions — ***Locally grown produce recycled containers and reusable bags***

Local when possible

Boggs estimated that about 90% of the store’s fresh produce comes from local or regional sources.

Fresh turmeric available during a recent visit came from Deep Roots Ecostead. Other produce changes with the season and with what nearby farms and suppliers have available.

Some staples, however, cannot be grown commercially in the Appalachian Highlands. Lemons and limes are among the products the store must obtain from outside the region.

For those items, Boggs said Patchwork Provisions works with Mountain Food Products in Asheville rather than purchasing directly from a large national supplier.

“The items that we get from them aren’t grown locally, but we still purchase those items through a local supplier,” he said.

That distinction is important to Boggs and Edwards. Their approach does not require every product to originate within a fixed number of miles. Still, they try to keep more of the store’s purchasing connected to regional farms, producers, artists and businesses.

Bulk containers of various beans, corn, lentils, rice — ***Bulk containers of various beans corn lentils rice***

Shopping by weight

The bulk-food section requires customers to approach grocery shopping a little differently.

Instead of purchasing a prepackaged amount, shoppers can select the quantity they need and pay according to weight. The system can reduce disposable packaging and allows customers to buy smaller amounts of products they may not use frequently.

Containers are central to that process.

Customers may bring their own, but Patchwork Provisions also offers donated jars at no charge. Boggs said community members began bringing empty glass containers to the store, particularly because glass recycling is not currently available in Abingdon.

“We sanitize them and put them out for the public for free,” he said. “If they don’t have their own containers, they can take one of ours and fill up with whatever they choose.”

The jar program provides another use for containers that might otherwise be discarded while allowing someone to shop without buying new packaging.

A similar approach can be found elsewhere in the store. A free section contains shopping bags and household items donated by people who no longer needed them.

Boggs said the items have circulated steadily.

“It’s been a cycle of things coming in and going out,” he said. “Nothing’s been sitting over there for a while, so we’ll probably grow that as well.”

Clothing made by Michelle Edwards from reclaimed clothes. — ***Clothing made by Michelle Edwards from reclaimed clothes***

New uses for old materials

Edwards oversees much of the store’s sewing and textile work.

Boggs said she repurposes garments, clothing and old quilts, turning used materials into items that can be sold again. The store also carries secondhand merchandise printed with designs by an Asheville artist.

“We like to take older items and repurpose them and sell them to the public at affordable prices,” he said.

The reused clothing, quilts and household goods give the store a visual character distinct from a conventional grocery market. Shelves of food and refill products share space with textiles, clothing and other secondhand finds.

The arrangement reflects the same principle behind the donated jars: Use what is already available before purchasing or producing something new.

***Tammy Terry of Lynchburg and Joan Miller of Wytheville***

A conversation over ginger

During a recent visit, Joan Miller of Wytheville and Tammy Terry of Lynchburg stopped at Patchwork Provisions while visiting Abingdon.

Miller selected two pieces of ginger with different plans for each.

“I’m going to plant this one, but I’m going to eat this one,” she said.

The purchase followed a conversation about growing ginger and turmeric at home. Kathy Creighton, an avid gardener who was also visiting the store, shared advice about cultivating the plants.

The conversation expanded to include garlic, which can be soaked in water to make a homemade garden spray intended to discourage some insects. Miller selected garlic to use both in her cooking and in the garden.

She said she appreciated the gardening advice and appeared pleased to have discovered the store.

The exchange was informal, but it illustrated one of the possibilities created by a small shop where unfamiliar produce and growing techniques can become the starting point for conversation.

A view of the store from the front. — ***A view of the store from the front***

An older idea in a new storefront

Patchwork Provisions remains a new business, and Boggs described its first several weeks as a “slow roll.”

Bulk shopping, refill systems and reusable containers require some explanation for people accustomed to selecting products in sealed, predetermined quantities. Boggs believes customers will become more comfortable with the process as they encounter it.

The concept may appear new beside a modern supermarket. Still, many of its practices would have been familiar to earlier generations of shoppers: purchasing only the amount needed, reusing containers and relying more heavily on foods produced nearby.

“It’s definitely a different way of shopping for a lot of people,” Boggs said, “but it’s also kind of an old way of shopping.”