Animalia, a Salt Lake City gift shop, “refillery” and supporter of independent artisans and brands, as described by its owner, is closing after five years in business.
“With the utmost gratitude and sentimentality, the time has come for Animalia to close its brick-and-mortar doors,” owner Abbey Muse said in an Instagram post on Saturday morning.
The last day of business for the store at 280 E. 900 South is July 29, but it will be open during regular shop hours until then, which are Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Animalia in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
“The same excitement and clarity I felt when I opened this shop five years ago is akin to the feelings I have now looking at the future,” Muse said in the post. “Thank you for a beautiful, wondrous, challenging, fruitful, ambitious chapter. It has been a pleasure to share this space with you.”
In a recent interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Muse said, “I really like products with stories,” and that focus came through in the items she curated for her store.
Animalia is filled with things that are either handmade, refillable, plastic-free, waste-free or vegan (except for some beeswax).
One of the main features of the store is a bulk bar, or refillery area, where you can purchase environmentally friendly personal care and household products priced by the ounce.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) A container of shampoo is refilled at Animalia in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
There, you can bring in your own container and fill it, use a free donated container, or purchase a new glass or aluminum container. To buy from the bulk bar, you first weigh the container, fill it up with the product you want, and then weigh it again, “so you don’t pay for the weight of the bottle, just the product,” Muse said.
All of the bulk products are from businesses that are “paying attention to the environment,” as well as a lot of local brands, she said.
There’s also candles, notebooks, jewelry, incense, makeup, secondhand clothing (curated by local resellers like The Thrill Vintage), bags, coasters and glass incense holders, with much of the items combining function and beauty.
And there’s kombucha available for sale by the ounce from Han’s Kombucha, as well as vegan candy bars available from Sweet Hazel & Co.
“Animalia will take another form in the future, I imagine,” Muse wrote in the post, hinting that Animalia may be involved in future markets. She added that retail is “tricky and it feels harder than ever.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Animalia in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
Several fellow business owners replied to express their support, and others remarked that they would miss the store.
Animalia will be holding a “celebration of life party” on July 15 at 5 p.m. until dusk, with “drinks, cake, love and deals.”
On Monday, Animalia posted on Instagram that a stationery store called City of Industry would be moving into the space around September and has offered that Animalia can continue its bulk bar there.
The post added that the owner of City of Industry would keep up Animalia’s food waste program, where people can bring their food waste to be recycled.
