The Free Store was founded in November 2010 after an art project inspired a group of friends. Kim Paton, an artist from out of town, set up a regular-looking shop stocked with food on the shelves. The peculiar difference being that customers could simply take the food for free. The art project came and went within a matter of weeks but a group of Wellingtonians had their brains buzzing. After discovering that some of the food in this shop was surplus food sourced from local cafes they asked, what if this could be a sustainable food supply?