Trends in Treats for the Senses

Soaps, Candles and Lotions at Resorts

The scent of sales is delightful when it comes to soaps, candles and lotions sold at resort locations. For this article, resort staff explained their tips to sell more of these items, as well as describing their bestsellers, and offering their take on whether candles still burn brightly in terms of sales, or are sputtering out.

At McMenamins’ Kalama Harbor Lodge, located in Kalama, Wash., Hotel Manager and Gift Shop Manager Rachel Curtin said the gift shop’s soaps and lotions are strong sellers, due at least in part to attractive store displays and “the ability to sample. We never stopped offering samples of the products we carry, even during the pandemic, because we were able to effectively sanitize the containers.” She said that experiencing the products is the best way to definitively boost sales.

Among her best-selling soaps and lotions are soaps from the Backwoods Soap Brewery Company, and lotions from Roman Ruby Botanicals. “Roman Ruby products are handcrafted and locally made. The scents yeast sourced locally in the Pacific Northwest.

At Kalama Harbor Lodge, Curtin related that the candles the gift shop offers are still “in” items for the resort’s guests. “In general, our candles do really well. We see no change in their sales at our shop. Our most popular candle brand is Four Points Trading Company. They’re soy candles that are handmade, and again, they also represent the area we’re located in.” remind people of the region we’re located in.” As for Backwoods Soap from the Backwoods Brewing Company, the gift shop offers a wide variety of scents that also have local appeal, as well as having added appeal due to McMinamins own focus on beers. The familyowned company serves their own handcrafted beer as well as wine, spirits, and coffee.

In short, it fits the location well that the handmade Backwoods Soap products are made from hops or beer. Along with their creative artisan soap items, the company also sells candles, all made from the hops and

At the Old Wheeler Hotel in Wheeler, Ore., Katie Brown owns both the gift shop and small resort hotel. She said that she offers guests unique, locally made items that serve as a memory of their experience in staying at the hotel. “Our guests prefer purchasing something made locally,” she noted, regardless of the type of item they’re interested in purchasing.

For Brown, like Curtin, the best way to sell more soap, lotions, or candles is to experience what the shop offers. “If we light a candle in the gift shop, and guests walk inside, then they want to buy it. Displays are also important.” A local creator makes both the shop’s soaps and candles. Brown says, “Candles are still quite popular for us in specific, local scents.” And the scent that does the best for the shop is somewhat unexpected, Brown stated. “I would not have thought that red current would be what people really gravitate towards, but they do.” Like the hotel’s eight charming rooms, the soaps and candles the shop offers are unique to the location.

The Steamer Trunk gift shop is located between the Pavilion Hotel and the Hotel Mac Rae in Avalon, Calif., on Catalina Island’s main harbor street. According to Sales Associate Janeece Lowder , speaking for owner Sue Rikalo, the store does very well with soaps, lotions, and candles of all kinds.

“Our soaps are scented and contain shea butter; we have everything from lavender spray mist to CBD lotion. Michel Designs and Inis brand lotion and soaps both do extremely well for us. I cannot keep Inis soaps in stock. It’s said to have the energy of the sea, and of course it has a lot of appeal because of our location on Catalina Island.” She added, “People know we have it and come here for it all the time. The scent is sea mineral, and it includes both sea and seaweed-based minerals. We have diffusers in that scent, too.” While the product is not locally made – it is family-owned and made at a farmhouse in Ireland. She explained that the appeal of the product is its naturalness, its uniqueness, and simply its specific scent. “People seek out particular scents, often even more so if they’ve come to Catalina right off the cruise ships.”

Among the most popular candle brands at the shop are Michel Designs, which she said “people like for the ocean scents, and the look of the packaging, which

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is also ocean themed. We also carry Rewine candles in wine and cocktail scents. While we sell them, and they move for us, I don’t think people are buying as many candles as they used to.”

At the Hallmark Resort and Spa in Cannon Beach,

“Our soaps are scented and contain shea butter; we have everything from lavender spray mist to CBD lotion. Michel Designs and Inis brand lotion and soaps both do extremely well for us. I cannot keep Inis soaps in stock. It’s said to have the energy of the sea, and of course it has a lot of appeal because of our location on Catalina Island.”

- Janeece Lowder, The Steamer Trunk gift shop, Avalon, Calif.

Ore., Guest Services Manager Genelle Mosley described the best ways to sell more soaps, lotions, and candles as “through display, and by including these items in some packages for hotel stays. In the gift shop itself, it’s all about our displays. We really don’t use