# Brick & Mortar soap stores



## xyxoxy (Feb 23, 2010)

So I'm just wondering how many people take their soap business to this level. I'm not talking about LUSH or one of those mega marts. I mean private soapers who feel courageous enough to open any sort of store front to sell their products.

Is there possibly enough profit for this? I'm sure you would have to sell a variety of B&B products, possibly supplies... and be able to produce in quantity. I would think it would be tough to afford very many employees and provide benefits. But maybe I'm thinking about it all wrong.

I have no plans to pursue this any time soon but for long range plans if I ever decide to switch careers it would be nice to know some details of just how something like this could work from those who actually do it.


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## Tabitha (Feb 23, 2010)

I have a B&M. To suppliment, I rent out booth spaces to other local artsist and crafters and/or take consignment art and craft pieces. I have been open  4 years & do better with my online sales to be truthfull. I am in a very small town though & find people can't buy luxury items like handmade soap when they can barely pay for groceries. Your town may be different.

I do hold classes from time to time and do make fair money on those.


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## xyxoxy (Feb 24, 2010)

Thank you Tabitha.
Renting space to other artists sounds nice but possibly time consuming and a lot to manage? I would worry about being responsible for other peoples' merchandise. Or do I have it wrong?

I've also thought offering classes would be a nice extra source of income... especially if you also sell all of the supplies.

Again I'm just dreaming of a better place to work than in this corporate vacuum I'm in... but when I try to do the math the numbers either don't add up or they are missing altogether. If I could do both and have some sort of supplemental income I might feel better about it but I don't see how that is possible.

I guess I was hoping a few people would jump in and say "Yes... I make a comfortable living with my brick and mortar B&B store!".


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## madpiano (Mar 13, 2010)

I was just about to take the plunge last month. It came at just the right time, I live in a big-ish town and the rental price was brilliant (compared to other shops in the area or possibly compared to the price of a jet-fighter). 

I pulled out at the last minute and I am glad now I did. 3 more shops in my town have closed this month, one of them has been there for 15 years. The recession is hitting hard here, people have no job security and even if you find a job, wages have dropped and bills are going up, so money is tight everywhere. 

And on top of it, I realized that I love being somewhere else every week. The thought of going to the same place every day, seeing the same people every day to sell my soap was filling me with dread. It was just like going to the office, in a different disguise. It was everything I wanted to get away from and had enough of after 20 years. Shops are open 7 days a week here and it was in a very small shopping mall....it would have been even worse than going to the office, so no thanks. I leave that to the poor students working at Lush...


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