Look Inside Buff City Soap’s New Store in Louisville, Kentucky

Original Article: Louisville Business First - October 21, 2020

Buff City Soap, the rapidly expanding handmade soap and skincare brand, is opening its first Louisville location on Thursday, October 22, in the St. Matthews neighborhood. The store will be located near Trader Joe’s in the Shelbyville Road Plaza. This marks Buff City Soap’s third location in the region, following successful openings in Jeffersonville, Indiana and Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Known for its plant-based, customizable products made in-store, Buff City Soap is gaining popularity for its fresh, natural approach to skincare.

The new St. Matthews location is lathering up excitement as it transforms a former F45 fitness studio into a 2,400-square-foot scent haven. Manager Sharon Dickens is no stranger to soap suds and bubbles and has been scrubbing away to bring the brand’s signature plant-based, customizable products to life in this new space. With a background in hands-on production at CafePress, Dickens brings a clean approach to managing the new location, just as she did when she first introduced Buff City Soap to Jeffersonville.

“It was a bit of a slippery start building brand awareness,” Dickens shared, “but once customers got a whiff of what we offer, they were hooked!” Now with the new Louisville store, Buff City Soap is sure to clean up with even more loyal fans!

At Buff City Soap, customers can dive into a sudsational experience with over 30 unique and customizable scents, spread across a variety of handcrafted products. Whether you’re eyeing soap bars, bath bombs, foaming hand soap, or even laundry soap, there’s no shortage of options. What makes the experience even more special is the in-store “makery,” where local artisans whip up these products right in front of guests. The customization aspect lets customers mix and match scents and ingredients, creating a truly one-of-a-kind product.

Dickens shared that the St. Matthews location’s makery churns out about 20 loaves of soap daily, with each loaf yielding 15 bars—meaning 300 fresh bars are ready each day! Cherry almond is a hit in Jeffersonville, but each store has its own scent superstars based on local preferences, driving production volumes of specific fragrances.

It’s a soapy symphony of creativity and freshness, tailored to each location’s unique clientele.