Whew! It’s hard to believe it has been 18 months since our last blog post. But we haven’t been slacking, I swear.
Soap production at our Middletown facility is bursting at the seams. To better accommodate local and national demand for our handmade goat milk soaps and natural skin care products, we have closed our downtown Frederick store as of May 24, 2015 so we can devote our efforts to soap production and online retail.
While we are sad to leave our East Patrick Street store, we couldn’t ignore the numbers: the retail boutique was taking away from our ability to keep up with production demands. Sales for our goat milk soap, bath and skin care products were up 68% in 2014, Our retail store in Frederick was too small to accommodate our production facility and our production facility is too inconveniently located for our local customers. We need a space to accommodate larger equipment, bigger moulds, better curing conditions; and a growing mail order operation.
This summer and fall we will be focusing on increasing goat milk soap production and expanding product lines on our website. In 2016, we will be looking for a new facility in the Frederick area to house our production operation as well as provide space for retail and classes in soapmaking and other arts and crafts. Making great soap and skin care products is the core of who we are. Robust sales allow us to be profitable to achieve our mission of improving the health and happiness of our customers.
At the same time, we will miss visiting with our friends and customers on East Patrick Street each weekend. Thank you all for supporting our brick and mortar store for the past three years.
You can still buy your favorite soaps, bath, body and care skin products 24/7 on our website, or by visiting one of these Frederick area retailers:
Citizen Frederick
112-A E. Patrick St
Frederick, MD 21701
Gravel & Grind
124 S Carroll St.
Frederick, MD 21701
Westwind Potters
144 High St.
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
FireFly Farms Creamery & Market
107 S Main St.
Accident, MD 21520
Happy Soaping!
The Old Colony Company Team