Business Spotlight: Buff City Soap

BY REGINA DONATO

Plant-based, all-natural, and hand-crafted—that is what Buff City Soap is all about. Founded in 2013 by now-CEO Brad Kellum, he set out on the mission to help his son with eczema find soaps and body care products that wouldn’t irritate his sensitive skin. Normal household detergents, cleaning products, and even lotions and body wash contain harsh chemicals and animal fats that leave skin feeling dry and irritated. What started as a garage experiment has since expanded to include over 200 stores in 30 states, with two brand-new locations in Delaware—one on Concord Pike in North Wilmington and the second in Pike Creek.

Delaware is no stranger to body care stores, but Buff City Soap has a corner of the market very few can touch due to the personalized nature of their products and the ingredients they use. “We carry everything from laundry soaps, dryer balls, body butters, shower oils, bath bombs, fizzy sugar scrubs, facial cleaning products, charcoal bars—you name it, we have it,” explains Steve Reid, store owner of the two Delaware Buff City Soap locations.

If you have a certain skin issue you need to account for or are seeking a certain scent for your products, that is also something they can easily customize for you in-store. “Buff City Soap is an extremely unique environment due to the fact that we make all products in complete view of our guests. We call this ‘retail theatre,’” explains Christine Hartpence, director of operations. “It gives us the opportunity to show our guests that we do actually make every product in-store. Our parties range from birthday celebrations, to girls night out, to couples nights, and team building. To book a party, all you need to do is call the store and speak to anyone on our team.”

Buff City Soap has taken the First State by storm. “Right now, the Wilmington is in the top 25 percent of all of the stores nationwide, which I feel really good about considering we’ve only been open for a year,” remarks Reid. “And even better, during our grand opening at Pike Creek in late August, we doubled our opening sales at Wilmington, which means there were a lot of people interested in it coming down to this area of the state.”

With the success of the first two Delaware locations, Reid, Hartpence, and team are looking to further expand Buff City Soap’s presence in the First State. All eyes are looking forward to beginning the process of opening a Middletown location to account for the growing population in that area, as well as a store down in Sussex County.

Every person is unique, and your body care should be too. Nourishing ingredients and handcrafted goodness can go a long way in self-care. Buff City Soap has succeeded in bringing plantbased and handmade products that are free of harsh ingredients to the First State, allowing hundreds of thousands of Delawareans to be happy, healthy, and treat their body right!

Feel passionately about the Buff City Soap mission? They are hiring for the holiday season! Apply on their website at www.buffcitysoap. com/pages/careers.