We went to Buff City

[BobbiOh]

My husband and I stopped in at a Buff City Soap in the next town over, Saturday. I had never seen one and I'm curious about the franchise.

The store was really big, I'd say close to 2400sf, for the part you can see. (I can't imagine the rent, it was in shopping plaza anchored by Kroger.) It was beautifully done. I'd consider it too big vs the amount of product. But maybe that was their intention. The counter space with stools was gorgeous. One of the girls was packaging soap right there on the counter, which was fun. ( I need an extra arm when I am)

You could tell you were in a soap shop by the scent, but my husband commented that the soap itself, didn't seem to have much scent and seemed kind of grainy. (his words) They did seem to be slightly like a salt bar to me and too soft to sell.

Their bath bombs, OMG, they were super hard, well scented, and well packaged. I wish mine would come out that way. They offer "bath bomb parties", so I may take them up on one.

Laundry soap, etc, which would be interesting to try, but my mother lives with us and she would freak. (a little OCD) Liquid soap, which I may buy as we go through a bunch of that anyway. I think I'll buy some body butter next time I'm over there. I am surprised that they named something "Pink Sugar" as it's trademarked by Aquolina.

There weren't a lot of people, just us and a mother/daughter couple. I asked how business was going, he said they opened last year and it was slow at first, but has been picking up.

I gather they get oils pre-mixed from the franchise. I actually asked if they make soap or get pre-made logs and the answer was that they make soap there. While I appreciate the business model (you have to be able to go to any store and get the same thing), I like being able to experiment.

So, my overall impression was somethings I thought they did really well, but I think their soap bars left me "meh". I've requested that the franchise information be sent to me, so we'll see.

 

[AliOop]

Thanks for the detailed report. It will be interesting to hear what the franchise requirements might be (assuming they don’t have an NDA that prohibits sharing them).

 

[Ephemerella]

Thank you for this! I've been curious about this store but don't have any near by to visit.

And love your avatar! NSH? Saddlebred? Morgan?

 

[BobbiOh]

That's Prince, my Morgan park horse. He is a love. I've owned him for a year.

 

[paradisi]

I feel a bit sad that something women (mostly) wrestled away from corporate commodity to hand crafted livelihood, soap, is now being wrestled back away from indies to commodity again.

I guess it speaks to the popularity of soap as made by individuals, that a corporation would seek to shoulder individual makers aside again and take a slice of that market for itself.

 

[MomInWA]

My husband and I stopped in at a Buff City Soap in the next town over, Saturday. I had never seen one and I'm curious about the franchise.

The store was really big, I'd say close to 2400sf, for the part you can see. (I can't imagine the rent, it was in shopping plaza anchored by Kroger.) It was beautifully done. I'd consider it too big vs the amount of product. But maybe that was their intention. The counter space with stools was gorgeous. One of the girls was packaging soap right there on the counter, which was fun. ( I need an extra arm when I am)

You could tell you were in a soap shop by the scent, but my husband commented that the soap itself, didn't seem to have much scent and seemed kind of grainy. (his words) They did seem to be slightly like a salt bar to me and too soft to sell.

Their bath bombs, OMG, they were super hard, well scented, and well packaged. I wish mine would come out that way. They offer "bath bomb parties", so I may take them up on one.

Laundry soap, etc, which would be interesting to try, but my mother lives with us and she would freak. (a little OCD) Liquid soap, which I may buy as we go through a bunch of that anyway. I think I'll buy some body butter next time I'm over there. I am surprised that they named something "Pink Sugar" as it's trademarked by Aquolina.

There weren't a lot of people, just us and a mother/daughter couple. I asked how business was going, he said they opened last year and it was slow at first, but has been picking up.

I gather they get oils pre-mixed from the franchise. I actually asked if they make soap or get pre-made logs and the answer was that they make soap there. While I appreciate the business model (you have to be able to go to any store and get the same thing), I like being able to experiment.

So, my overall impression was somethings I thought they did really well, but I think their soap bars left me "meh". I've requested that the franchise information be sent to me, so we'll see.

I used to wear Pink Sugar. I think BB fragrance Warm Vanilla Sugar is really close, especially after it cures. I’ve made several batches with it.

 

[melinda48]

That's Prince, my Morgan park horse. He is a love. I've owned him for a year.

He is handsome!

 

[lucycat]

I have also been and overall thought it was fine. One of my customers used their soap and didn't care for it. I thought their prices were reasonable and I thought the fragrances seemed ok. I still don't understand their process since they can put out a fairly hard bar in a few days. It looks like cold process, but they say it doesn't require a long curing time. Yes, they do make the soap in the store.

I was stunned at the number of employees in the store (7 that I could see). I just couldn't figure out how they could do well enough with such a large store rent as well as employee expenses. I know their cost per product would be a lot less than mine, but I didn't see customers with a large number of items in their baskets. Every soap store I have ever been in has been much smaller and usually 1-3 employees.

There was a bath/body business a few years ago from Texas that franchised and was sued by franchise holders and went out of business. The main issue the franchise holders had was that they needed more new products each year and the merchandise seemed to stay the same which decreased customer traffic over time. I would want to understand their yearly plans in looking at the franchise info.