Brookfield, Kroger, Walgreens Give Green Retail Startup Loop A U.S. Home
Loop, a company that brings the milkman concept into the digital age to save the environment, is entering the U.S. market in a major way.
Loop first launched in Europe but announced on Tuesday that it has begun offering memberships in the Mid-Atlantic — New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C. — to start with. Members order products online, receive them in custom-made packaging and schedule a pickup, after which Loop cleans and reuses the containers. There is already a waitlist for membership as Loop takes its first steps in the U.S.
Loop has also partnered with Walgreens and Kroger to place packaging exchange stations, adding more convenience to the return process. The partnership resembles the one Kohl's struck with Amazon, giving potential customers more reason to visit their stores and spend more, with the added psychological benefit of environmental sustainability.
The company, a branch of waste management firm TerraCycle, has taken on an additional and potentially diversifying partnership with Brookfield Property Partners, beginning at the latter's Lower Manhattan office complex Brookfield Place and its Brooklyn apartment building One Blue Slip at Greenpoint Landing.
Loop will place exchange stations in the developments and offer some of Loop's limited initial slots to One Blue Slip residents and Brookfield Place employees. Further Brookfield properties could be included if the pilot goes well.
Loop says it is already operational in 21 countries, and offers products from Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Clorox and others.
