Accessibility
Your comfort is our priority
If you are planning a trip to the shop and would be more comfortable alerting us of any accessibility needs before your arrival, please do not hesitate to contact us. Your comfort and privacy are our priority!
Entering the shop
The Dartmouth shop has one main entrance off Portland St. that is flush with the street level. There is an automatic door that opens outward toward the street, and that has two buttons to open it – one at 40 inches off the ground and one at 4 inches off the ground.
The environment
Our space is a long rectangle, and when looking into the space, you'll find cafe seating at the front with a bench along the wall and a table with chairs at the table. There is a bar in the window nook with one step up to get to the bar seating, and stools along the bar. Further down the store is a wall of shelves with our bulk products along the left side of the space, and a counter where the checkout stations are.
Washroom
Our public washrooms are gender-neutral, barrier free and do not require a key or code to use. Inside you will find a sharps container. There are change tables in the washrooms at both locations.
Lights and sound
While we do often get very busy at the shop (and it can get loud), weekday mornings tend to be a great time to come in for anyone who is sensitive to stimulation. In the early afternoons we tend to have fewer bodies in the space. All of our lights are on dimmers and we are able to dim them on request.
Seating
We have seating along the bar in the window that requires one step up. Our café table has ample room around it to sit with wheelchairs, walkers, strollers or support animals. We have a high-chair available by request. We are happy to bring your drinks or treats over to you at the table. Please let us know if we can assist you in regards to seating.
Bulk shopping
Typically our bulk shopping involves bringing in your own container(s) which we weigh before you fill them up from our jars. While it is typically self-serve, we recognize that there are many potential barriers that may make it difficult for folks to reach, carry, open and pour from our jars. If you anticipate having any difficulty with any or all of these steps, all of our staff are willing and able to facilitate bulk filling for you. If you’re comfortable identifying part of the process with which you may need assistance, please do so at either of our counters and we will readily assist you at no extra charge. For those who have difficulty reaching our top shelves, we have a 3-step stool available to use or staff will gladly grab them down for you. If the container you are bringing in to refill is large (for example, a 6 Litre laundry soap jug) and becomes too heavy, alert a staff member and they can facilitate filling it for you.
Staff are also available to assist you in packing up carrying your bulk goods to a vehicle if assistance is required or would make your experience easier. Your safety and comfort are priorities for us at the Tare Shop.
Social media
All of our captions on our social media posts include image descriptions (either in the caption itself or in the “alt text” function) for anyone who uses assistive screen reader technology. Our hashtags are all written in camelCase* to ensure legibility.
*camelCase is the practice of writing phrases such that each word or abbreviation in the middle of the phrase begins with a capital letter. This improves the legibility of the hashtags and allows screen readers to recognize separate words. For example, a regular hashtag might read “#thetareshop” whereas a camelCase hashtag would be written as “#TheTareShop”.
Budgeted shopping
Would you like to shop in our bulk section but are unsure of how our prices compare to other stores? Buying a bulk item for the first time and interested to know what to expect in terms of cost? We are happy to help you estimate or weigh your products as you go so you can get a sense of the cost before filling your entire container. We are here to help and are aware that many people are shopping on strict food budgets. If budget is a concern for you and you have a sense of the volume of the containers you would like to fill, feel free to email us pricing questions we will get back to you with cost estimates.
Scent-free
The Tare Shop uses scent-free products for all our cleaning and has a scent-free policy for our employees. While we do carry scented products (toothpaste, deodorant, candles, etc) they are all sealed.
Kid-friendly space
Coming to the shop with a child in tow? We’ve got a selection of toys and books to keep your little one busy, a high-chair available upon request and lots of room to navigate with strollers.
Discounts
We offer 10% off in our bulk and lifestyle sections on Tuesdays for students with a valid ID. We offer 10% off in our bulk and lifestyle sections for seniors (65+) on Wednesdays.
Allergies
We cannot guarantee no-cross contamination but do a ton to eliminate it. We have lots of regulars who are celiac or have other anaphylactic allergies and feel safe shopping with us.
All of our products are in airtight glass jars, so we don’t have products sitting open. Any time a jar gets emptied, we sanitize it, and sanitize all the filling stations in between customers.
We require that each customer uses one scoop per product to avoid any cross contamination, and once they are done with that scoop it gets wahs and sanitized (there are no scoops sitting in product).
As we weigh all the containers before customers do their filling, we get the chance to remind them of these policies and ask if they need a refresher.
As our space is really open we are also able to keep an eye on folks and make sure the rules are being followed!