Controversial Brighton store Ecostream has closed; owners will focus business on “other channels”

A controversial Brighton store has closed down with the firm deciding to focus its business efforts on “other channels”.

Ecostream in Western Road, Brighton, was set up in 2012 as an eco-friendly store where people could get refills of oils, sparkling water, beauty products and other liquids.

However, the store became the target for weekly protests by pro-Palestinian supporters due to claims the firm had a factory in illegally occupied West Bank.

This in turn triggered counter demonstrations from pro-Israelis with regular clashes reported.

Nearly two years on, the shop appears to have ceased trading and its website taken down.

This is despite previous claims from managers that it would keep open the Brighton store, regardless of the disruption.

A spokeswoman for Sodastream, its parents company, said today (Wednesday July 2): “SodaStream confirms that the EcoStream store, located on Western Road in Brighton, closed earlier this week.

“The store, which opened in August 2012, was designed to test a new retail concept, targeting environmentally conscious consumers who could purchase regular household products by weight and without packaging. The pilot store was inspired by SodaStream’s ambition to ‘unbottle’ the world.

“The city was chosen for its reputation as having one of the most environmentally aware populations in the UK, evident with Brighton & Hove seeing England’s first elected Green Party MP.

“Following the two year test period, the company has decided to focus its business efforts on other channels, specifically on retail distribution partnerships, which is proven successful in the UK and in the 45 markets where SodaStream operates.

“The business in the UK is on a high growth pattern, with over 20 per cent year on year growth, and rolling out to new retail stores across the country.

“SodaStream would like to thank all of its EcoStream customers and fantastic supporters and to reassure them that the brand will continue to fight for a plastic bottle-free planet.”

Previously Daniel Birnbaum, boss at the company’s factory in the middle east, told The Argus: “The best thing I could do for SodaStream’s bottom line is move production to China. I won’t do that. We pay our workers three times the Palestinian national average. We give them healthcare.

“Unemployment in the Palestine Authority region is around 30 per cent. Why would anyone want us to stop employing Palestinian workers?”

The news has been greeted by campaigners as a victory for human rights and the Palestinian cause.

Brighton and Hove Palestine Solidarity Campaign yesterday (Tuesday July 1) issued the following statement: “This campaign has taken the message about human rights abuses in occupied Palestine to the people of Brighton, and their response has been fantastic.

“They have made it clear that they do not want businesses from illegal Israeli settlements trading in their town.

“The closure of SodaStream’s so-called flagship UK store in Brighton is just one step in a campaign to send a clear message to the Israeli government and the international community that, at the grassroots level, people of conscience are taking action to force Israel to comply with international law and to bring about justice for the Palestinian people.

“We give notice to the other stockists of SodaStream products in the city that we will continue to take the message about SodaStream to the people of Brighton on behalf of the Palestinian people. Congratulations to the people of Brighton and Hove, who can tell the difference between ethical and unethical.”