Home Eco, St. Louis' first environmentally friendly home goods store opens this month in South St. Louis. The retail store and showroom brings St. Louisans a new way to shop for planet-friendly products for home and garden.

Located at 4611 Macklind Avenue in the South Hampton neighborhood, just four blocks south of Chippewa at Devonshire, Home Eco offers a range of renewable, sustainable, recycled and just plain good-for-the-earth goods for the home.

Native St. Louisans Terry Winkelmann and Phil Judd conceived of the idea after discovering many of the products the couple needed for their new home were not available in St. Louis stores.

"There are a lot of virtual 'green' stores on the web and mail order catalogs," notes Winkelmann, "but I don't always want to try things sight unseen, or pay for shipping heavy items like a compost tumbler. I guess I'm a Show-Me Stater, but I have to see something to know if I really need it."

National news media like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal call retailers who embrace the concept "Green General Stores," "Eco Boutiques," or "Sustainable Living Stores."

A sampling of Home Eco's selection of sustainably made products includes: composters, bamboo and cork flooring, bioplastic trash bags, recycling bins, organic cotton sheets, hemp apparel, soy candles, kenaf cards, and soon, solar panels and other renewable energy products.

Store hours are Tuesday through Friday 11 to 7 and Saturday 10 to 4.

Winkelmann, a writer and real estate agent who grew up in the neighborhood, manages the store, while Judd, who also owns Acme Information Technology, brings his technical expertise to the renewable energy side of the new business. Both are members of Green Drinks, Co-op America, and Heartland Renewable Energy Society.

For more information, contact Terry Winkelmann or Phil Judd at 351-2000 during store hours.

Posted under Business District by Brian Marston on Thu., Mar 2, 2006 at 2:37 PM