Frustrated by commercial soaps’ harsh chemicals, detergents, and animal fats, Buff City Soaps set out to create a better way – with delightfully scented, handmade, and plant-based soaps. From inception till date, they have been on a mission to create handmade products that are free of harsh ingredients and full of nourishing plant-based goodness.
Buff City Vision
With 8 scent categories ranging from fruity to unscented, to 17 product types ranging from bath and shower to laundry, to over 40 quirky and unique scent names like “All Hail the Queen”, “Ferocious Beast”, and “Good Morning Sunshine,” all created via in-store manufacturing. Buff City Soaps is gradually making a big difference in the soap-making industry.
As their founder, Brad Kellum, put it,
“Our commitment to our vision speaks to the transparency and the genuineness of what we are trying to do. We are trying to change the way people buy their everyday soap. That’s my goal. I’m going to do that by offering a plant-based alternative at a real people price point.”
How It Started…
The company Buff City Soap was established in 2013 by former firefighter Brad Kellum and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Ziemianin Kellum. The couple, who are now married, have now added locations in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, and Georgia to the list of states they now serve.
After reviewing the ingredients in the soap he used every day, Kellum had the idea to make plant-based soap. Kellum had usually bought the cheapest bar of soap he could find at the neighborhood grocery store, but he was astonished by the quality of the Whole Foods soap he bought one day. When he realized that the soap did not contain the common chemical sodium tallowate, which comes from animal fatty tissue, he enlisted the help of his girlfriend Jennifer Ziemianin to create bar soap that likewise adhered to plant-based ingredients.
Prior to expanding nationally, Kellum first sold his goods to his neighbors. Kellum brought his bar soaps to pop-up shops and farmers’ markets, where he got positive feedback from the public. He was certain his goods had a future when customers returned for a second and third soap. He expanded after observing the reactions of the clients. After selling his goods online, Kellum built his first physical store in 2014.
The Journey So Far…
According to the company website, buffcitysoap.com, franchising started in 2018 and there are currently more than 218 outlets in 29 states.
Buff City Soap made $75,000 in sales in its first year of business. The business has opened more than 200 locations around the country and generated overall sales of over $20 million.
In addition to Mississippi and Tennessee, Buff City Soap now has locations in Colorado, Kentucky, Florida, and Alabama. For a franchisee, the startup costs for a Buff City Soap business range from $235,000 to $320,000. According to Kellum, it has sold 16 multi-unit franchises and has 300 pending franchise applications. The sales total for Buff City Soap is expected to exceed $8 million this year, more than doubling that of last year.
The “Soap Makery,” a butcher-block bar within the storefronts, is the centerpiece of the Buff City Soap concept. The products sold in stores are produced in the soap makery. 20 different basic preservative-free soap kinds are offered by Buff City Soap for $7, as well as 20 premium preservative-free soap varieties for $8.50 that take things up a level with ingredients like tea tree, activated charcoal, and shea butters. Consumers can recreate the aromas of their preferred soaps in bath bombs, body butters, shower oils, and other products.
The Future of Buff City Soaps
Customers are drawn to Buff City Soap’s goods, according to brand consultant Paige Ross, for a few different reasons. “One, it’s safer for the environment and you,” she explains. “Two,” she continued, “I believe there is a great need right now for healthy products and self-care with COVID.“
With the increased awareness about climate change, global warming, planet care, recycling, use of plant-based materials and so on, Buff City Soaps have positioned itself to take skincare to the next level, improving wellbeing, and saving the planet at the same time. Especially with the world constantly under the threat of a new, unpredictable virus, their soaps are on their way to being recognized as a necessity for healthcare, along with anti-viruses.