Author: Kristy

Brick & Mortar Store:  Soak Essentials Marketplace!

Okay so I have been pretty bad at keeping my posts up as of late and I have also been hinting of some major things happening here at Soak Essentials.  Well with butterflies fluttering in my stomach today is the day I can reveal all the excitement I have been containing inside for the last month.

It has been my dream to open a retail store for the last few years, I have been growing my business with always looking at my 5 year plan.   Part of that 5 year plan was waiting to open a brick & mortar store until my son started kindergarten (still 1.5 years away).  Then the perfect spot opened that I had always told my husband I wanted to have a store  if I were to ever full-fill this dream.    I hummed and hawed, had many sleepless nights of should I, shouldn’t I?  What am I thinking? Am I crazy? Can I do this?  Is this fair to my family, especially my child?  I worried in fear that I was making the wrong decision until one day my hubby said “What are we teaching our child if we tell him to follow his dreams but you don’t do the same” and he was right.  So instead of looking at all the things that could go wrong I started turning my cant’s into cans and shifted my thinking.  I can do this!  I will succeed!  If I build it they will come right??????  Everyone that I confided in would throw really good scenarios at me and  you know what, I had the answers to all of them.   My confidence started growing  I can do this!   So that leads me to the now……..

I have officially signed a lease in downtown Parksville; I take possession April 1st (hopefully a bit sooner) and am planning for a Grand Opening first weekend in May.  More details on that to come.   Now the part you really want to know about what will be in this said store you speak of?   Well,  my company name is still Soak Essentials but the store name is  going to be “SOAK ESSENTIALS MARKETPLACE,” All The Essentials For Your Body, Mind & Home”.  The long and short of it:  It will be a bath and home accessories boutique/Supplies and Workshops.   I will be carrying all my bath and body products of course as well as other AMAZING local artist’s products from baby treasures, jewellery, and furniture!   There will also be very cool kitschy household items unlike anything Parksville currently has, that’s the boutique side of it.  Then the second part of the store will be for the Do-It-Yourselfer, I will have (small amount to start) supplies for making your own bath and body products, kits, packaging (really cool packaging) etc….  And third part in the slower seasons I will be offering classes of all kinds from bath and body workshops to maybe some shabby chic workshops and whatever else you want to learn.

For those of you who are wondering hey are you still going to do markets, the answer is YES, although I plan on bringing a lot less stock.

Well there you have it!  It’s officially, official and kind of crazy that I am saying it out loud, now that the cats out of the bag please share with all your family and friends!  And please come into the store to visit and say hi!  Also watch for updates of the store coming to life, announcements of product and artists being carried in the store and of course more info on the Grand Opening!

Thanks so much to all my customers for your continued support! And especially to my family and friends who knew of this little secret, and listened to me talk about this non-stop ;O)  Love you guys!

Kristy

I am so excited to announce that there is  finally a new website that I have been dreaming of for so long!  Thank you Terra Creative for making this all a reality.  Check out her awesome website and her great work at www.terracreative.ca she created not only my website but also my logo and artwork.

Look how far we have come, 3 short years ago I started this company with only bath salts, now I have over 50 products and am a market and craft fair ninja!   I have posted some pictures for you to see the transition of my product from the day I started to now.  Let me tell you its night and day!   What do you think?  Better hey!

Stay tuned for more blog updates, this is just the start!