Ecowise

Cool store. Too bad though. The owner SUCKS! He’s basically a big dick. Which you’d think I’d like being that I’m a big hairy pussy. But nooooooooo. Not this skank. I actually haven’t been in this place in years. Why? Because Jim’s a selfish money grubbing dick. Too bad Jimbo. I would of spent a lot of cash at your establishment. However, The Home Depot is cheaper. Easier to get too. They are friendly too. It’s impressive how this store has managed to stay in business.
Stop bad mouthing my friends too you doosh.
I don’t think it’s being over sensitive when people complain about an employee or owner of a business not showing respect. If you want my money, don’t treat me like shit. How easy is it to be nice, hell… even fair to someone? I have worked with the public and any job you have to deal with people. People can be assholes. But to be treated poorly from an owner of a business? Yes this business. It’s NOT right.
It’s simple… Be respectful. Be gracious. Give the customer the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise, you don’t get my business.
Karma… I guess…

I’m completely taken aback over the many negative comments made describing Ecowise!
I’ve been a customer to this fabulous local green business for 20 years or better & I have never (not once. Ever.) been treated ugly. In fact, Jim & his employees are super helpful; they acknowledge my coming every time & offer themselves up to answer question or help me locate my treasures…
Jim himself won’t be sweeping the ‘Friendliest guy of the year’ award, but that’s called having a peculiar personality, certainly not deserving of the above comments.
Not all of us find it natural, easy, pleasant, or (insert adjective of choice here) to be outgoing/​friendly to strangers, thus, most likely demonstrating more of an eccentric attitude/​personality. We are all very different in how we see the world and in my opinion, if humans would stop taking every little thing so personal…
Well, we’d definitely be happier.
I will always love EW & am intensely grateful for the businesses existence.

Occasionally, I fill out a survey or a request for feedback: not on Unilocal,but rather by way of a quantitative analysis. These surveys contain questions along the lines of «How important is shopping local?» and «Would you pay more for a high quality commodity sold by a small business?»
Ecowise has blown up what little hope I had in the little man. This long-​standing shop off of South Congress built up a cult-​following (in the vein of Austin, as a city, being a cult) for handymen and interior designers alike.
Allow me to recount the paint experience in the form of a movie:
Young married couple buys new home. Wife, graphic designer, plans to paint cabinets. With an affinity towards health-​conscious living, the couple lands on Ecowise to supply a couple cans of paint.
Upon opening, the horror sets in. An abundance of chips float in the primer… and the grey paint turns out too light. With a tucked tail, the couple hopes to get a refund or something of the sort – even with the «no-​return» policy, we except some compensation.
Luckily, a woman working the front desk provides a full-​on refund for the primer. And, the owner proceeds to adjust the grey paint. «You should’ve known the paint sample dries lighter», the owner proclaims. «I’ll call you when its done.»
A call is never made.

Terrible, terrible experience today. I had even called ahead to see if what I needed was in stock, and they said it was. I got to the store and was then told it would take two to three weeks to order. The salesperson said right in front of the owner and I that she hadn’t told me it was in stock. Ok, so I chaulk it up to miscommunication and start looking at options to order. The salesperson had no earthly idea what she was doing and would say something and then totally contradict herself as far was what was available to order. I left after about 10 minutes of pure and utter frustration and will take my dollars elsewhere.

My daughter and I were in there last Saturday looking for paint etc. Jim and Ray helped us. They were amazing and helped with paint and so many other questions. Great place to buy organic non toxic products for the home!!!

Jim, the owner, is one of the rudest people I’ve ever met. He treats his staff the same way he treats his customers: terribly.
Although the mission of this store is noble, the person running it isn’t. The only green Jim seems to care about is the green that fits in his wallet. Maybe he’s overworked; maybe he’s just been doing this for too long. Either way, his contempt for the people inside his store is palpable. It’s as if he hates the very thing that supports him.
Fortunately, I won’t be one of the people who support him any longer. I’m sad that I have to stop coming to a store I’ve come to love, but I simply refuse to put money into the pocket of a man who treats people like garbage. In this respect, Eco-​Wise is no better than any other greedy corporation in the world who values profits over people. Find another outlet for your green needs. I know I will.

I am giving this store one star because the owner/​operator treated me like dog doo.
I visited Eco Wise yesterday to procure materials for a project I am working on for my nonprofit organization installing eco-​friendly signs and information boards for our wicking bed gardens to be displayed throughout Austin.
I described to him the nature of the project, that it should be creative, made out of repurposed materials and non-​damaging to the environment.
He suggested that I use plaster, and when I asked him where to get these materials he said «I dunno…»
And then I asked him how to use the plaster for the signs and he said «Uhh…get some chicken wire.»
He then proceeded to walk away without showing me anything in the store that could suit my needs.
Bummer…

The items in this store are so interesting that I frequently go to EcoWise just to browse. And I have found the owner Jim and all of his employees to be very helpful.
So I am really suprised by any negative review. I cannot imagine running a store that isn’t a chain and providing such a good service for Austin.
And because they carry a lit bit of eveything, they are very busy. I have certaintly always gotten more help here than any box store.
And they are cool, hip Austin people without an attitude.
A great place to shop and at the same time, save our planet.

This store has awesome products and it’s obvious they care about what they are selling to people. Also, the guy who works there with the red beard is awesome, helpful and super hot.

I really want to like this place; they carry products I like. But the man (owner?) is a total douche canoe. We went in to make a purchase and as we walked up to the counter to pay, the man yelled at the other worker that she didn’t engage the customers enough and he ran out the door after them, leaving us standing at the counter without assistance. I would have felt worse for the employee getting abused if she showed any level of competence, but she also left us standing at the register for several minutes while she vacantly went about whatever she was doing. She never ended up helping us, we had to wait for the guy to check us out, which was extremely awkward, because we really wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Total jerk; won’t be back.

the staff is very helpful and knowledgable about their green products, and their baby section rocks. we also got a wool topper for our bed that is super comfy.
put your money where your mouth is and shop green at ecowise!

Owners are so rude that I can’t go back even though I love what they are about.
Employees are great though!

Cute organic cotton v-​necks for $ 10!
Plus a ton of other eco-​friendly products, including household cleaning products, a baby room, bedding, books – a little bit of everything. Located next to Vulcan Video in the Soco district. Friendly staff, great location, fair prices (but slightly more expensive than what you would pay for a similar product somewhere else. being eco-​friendly isn’t cheap.)

this is a fun little shop tucked away off of South Congress. They seem to have a bit of everything — from eco-​mattresses, low flow water contraptions and paints to books and clothing and baby stuff. If you have a hippy or eco-​conscious friend, it’s a nice place look for a gift.
if i had a house, i’m sure i’d stop in even more often, but as it is, i’ve purchased some organic pants, toothpaste, and household cleaning products. My mom found a book she had long been searching for.

Every time I go to Vulcan Video, I see Ecowise. When I see Ecowise, I see their «solar oven,» which makes my brain do this *insert noise of brains exploding out of skull*. The solar oven is so cool, I want to buy it and pretend I am on that show Man vs. Nature — you know, the one hosted by that dude named Bear who is always trying to commit natural suicide and named his kid like Apple or Leaf or Praying Mantis or something?!?
Anyways, they have all these awesome eco-​friendly building materials and books on building eco-​friendly. As someone who works in construction and sees the waste generated on a daily basis by the building industry, I am glad to see resources that allow the average Joe to have a different way of doing things.
That said, I’ve bought lots of organic cotton shirts and «hippie» shoes for my sister from Ecowise and I loves it.

I really love the concept of this store even though it is a bit chaotic. Everything they carry is environmentally friendly. From household materials like recycled carpet, cork flooring, paint, wood stain, etc. If it wasn’t cost prohibited, I would have recycled glass tile all over my kitchen and bathrooms.
They also have lots of organic cotton products such as sheets, towels and clothes.
And they have a decent baby department for cloth diapers, clothes, toys and what not. I caught myself fascinated by the cloth diapers on a recent trip in with my pregnant friend. Actually I think my reaction was «So when the baby fills this thing with poop, you just throw is your washing machine? Gross.» But it turns out that is not the case and cloth diapers are not as disgusting as I had once imagined. There are flushable liners, removable linings and other items that make cloth diapers much more appealing than filling the landfills with disposable diapers.
From the looks of it outside, you can also pull your car up to the front and pump it full over biodisel, if you are lucky enough to have a car that runs on that.

Ecowise is a sort of wild green hodge-​podge of a wide variety of different things: there are environmentally friendly home building and outfitting supplies, clothes, and more. The place is laid out a little like some sort of green-​bomb went off here, but the staff seemed affable enough to me when I was in.
It would definitely seem at first blush that this is an environment (pun intended, sort of) where being able to find something environmentally sound trumps the convenience of the depth of selection you may find elsewhere. There’s a little bit of a green general store meets rummage sale here, and I suppose how you take to that is largely contingent on whether you’re an optimist or a pragmatist when it comes to the sustainable movement. I’ll be back, and I’m not exactly sure for what. And to me that says a little something.

I want to like this place. Who wouldn’t rather patronize a biz like this than the big box stores? But the experience shopping there leaves a lot to be desired. I’m a designer, and while I don’t expect businesses like this to roll out the red carpet or anything, I sure don’t expect them to be rude to someone who represents many revenue opportunities. But they were. Rude.
Okay, whatever, so they’ve got their quirks…
Then one of my contractors told me today that the folks at Eco-​wise piddled around for an entire biz week before placing an order for the marmoleum we’re installing in a client’s kitchen. Not exactly professional practice.
I’m not going to go out of my way to shop at a place that is rude to me and screws around with one of my jobs.

Environmentally conscious store: housewares, toys, clothes, flooring, paint and more. We bought low VCO paint here for our kitchen which they mixed to match a color I found in a magazine. No fumes, amazing.
Sometimes the owner can be cantankerous. One star off for that.

Got allergies? Get Ecowise.
I’m a seriously allergic person. Not the allergic that will send me to the hospital at the sight of a peanut, thank gosh, but the kind of allergic that after I moved into a new apt that had been re carpeted and painted a month previous I had to move out. The same day. Cause I couldn’t take the smell… kind of allergic. Its true.
I buy all of my flooring and paint supplies from Ecowise. They have things that don’t make me feel like a zombie in my home from all the fumes, and they have carpet that has already been «defumed» or whatever you call it.
Wanna be healthy and support the environment, or just slightly selfish and care about your own health– Ecowise. Seriously, y’all. Amazing stuff. Its kind of hidden right off of South Congress in the back of a parking lot. Look closely for it.