Elizabeth with the fabulous Jessica Bailey at the store openingAs probably all vegans downunder know, the Cruelty Free Shop has been a fabulous local resource for buying 100% vegan and cruelty-free items online for over a decade. It’s a successful, award-winning business, that this year finally took the major step of setting up a physical bricks-and-mortar shop-front in Sydney. And yours truly was lucky enough to go along to the grand opening night!

Part of the reason the shop has been so successful over several years (even through the dreaded GFC!) is because of the positive and optimistic attitude of the fabulous vegan woman behind it… Jessica Bailey. Of course it doesn’t hurt that she’s also willing to work bloody hard on all aspects of the business – whether sourcing fabulous vegan products, investigating ingredients and accreditations, or ensuring all-round customer satisfaction. And it’s a measure of just how well-loved she and her shop are, that on Thursday 28th June 2012 the opening night was packed out with well-wishers and shoppers. (you’ll have to believe me on this one as I don’t actually have any crowd shots! I made sure to get there early enough to be able to get pictures of the shop itself and be able to see the shelves and products rather than just a mass of bodies…)

Books and sweets (if you look hard you can even see my book in the top left hand corner, next to the calendars!)

The window display declared it to be ‘vegan heaven’ and that’s pretty apt – being able to walk in and know you can pick anything off the shelves and not be faced with an ingredients list that might reveal milk powder/gelatine/cochineal/any other animal-derived products is certainly heavenly to me! Here’s some of what’s on offer – and guess what, there’s so many pics to include in this post I’m not even going to put up any of the extensive refrigerated and frozen sections!

Stay clean without cruelty!

Some of the savouries and pantry items

Clover Moore MP and Jessica Bailey

Clover Moore MP, well-known as one of the more animal-friendly politicians around, officially opened the store, and the text of her speech is now available online.

Vegan Cake? Yes please!

Also, yes, there was a range of delicious vegan party food available for the grand occasion. Let’s concentrate on just the cakes… yum!

Finally – in the interests of full disclosure: I’ve been friends with Jessica since before she even set up the Cruelty Free Shop online; she sells my poetry book; and, as of last week, I have actually taken on a second job working casually for the shop. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to be joining the team! But rest assured I’m getting nothing out of posting this up other than the warm fuzzies of sharing with the world what I know to be an ethical business run by a long-term vegan.

You can find the Cruelty Free Shop online at http://crueltyfreeshop.com.au, and the physical version is at 83 Glebe Point Road, Glebe NSW 2037. As of October 2012, the store is open seven days a week: Monday to Friday 10am – 6.30pm, Saturday 10am – 5pm and Sunday 11am – 5pm. Plus, if you’re a Vegan Society NSW member, show your card and receive a 10% discount off everything!

Hurray for a thriving vegan business taking a step like this!  That there is enough support to justify a physical presence for The Cruelty Free Shop's store is great proof that veganism continues to be on the up and up. 

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