Downtown Glenwood, Ark. storefront to become a soapery
This story, published in The Glenwood Herald on April 17, is a good example of how much I enjoy the unique storytelling opportunities that are available while reporting for small town newspapers.
Building owner Ethan Blackman and Tasha Harris inside the recently cleaned out storefront where she will open her store Farm Fresh Beauty. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Soon the creamy smell of soap being made will be wafting through downtown Glenwood, Ark., emanating from a shop at 223 E. Broadway. It’s the expansion of a business run by Tasha Harris of Kirby who is opening her first brick-and-mortar store.
For 13 years, she has been making small batches of artisan soap from fresh goat milk. It was first intended for a son who had severe baby eczema. Soon she began giving it to other family members and neighbors with some, she said, eventually asking if they could buy it. Thinking she might be able to make a little money, Harris took some bars to sell at a farmers market in Waldron.
“I was so excited that I called my grandmother, my mother-in-law, and I was like, we made $60 today. It didn’t even cover our expenses, but we were so tickled that people would actually want to use our soap,” Harris said. “A lot of the people in the community use our soaps and we’re very grateful for them. Everybody in our family uses them. Our family also drinks goat milk, so, I mean, we’re a goat milk family, that’s for sure.”
She began traveling to events in states throughout the region to sell her soap and eventually launched an online store, shipping soap to customers all over the U.S. But when she recently saw an empty storefront downtown, she decided to end the driving and pursue her dream of putting down roots by opening a soapery called Farm Fresh Beauty.
Earlier this month, a crew spent a few days removing the old interior — things like cheap wood paneling, plaster over walls and lowered ceilings — to get to the bare structure so that she can begin designing how her store will be laid out.
Harris said it’s “exciting and nerve racking. It’s like, it’s all happening really, really fast, but at the same time, it’s just taking forever to get there. So I don’t know how you can feel both, but I totally do.”
She’s working with Ethan Blackmon, who recently bought the building, primarily to use a large warehouse in the back. The storefront, which he estimates is about 1,800 square feet, was just being used for storage.
The two recently walked through the building, marveling at its newly-exposed brick walls and original tin ceiling tiles.
“My crew had a little bit of time on their hands. I was like, yeah, we can go ahead and start on it, but it just worked out perfect,” Blackmon told her.
“I love it, and the best thing is all this natural light is so beautiful,” Harris responded, gesturing toward the front windows.
Looking toward the front of the shop as renovations are underway. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Now visible for the first time in decades is a sign on one wall from the period when this space was a shoe store. It says “self-service,” inviting customers to pick up shoes themselves rather than wait for a salesperson. The sign offers shoes for $2.88 a pair or two pairs for $5.
Blackmon says his family is from Glenwood and has memories of coming to the shoe store.
“My mom grew up, you know, not too well off and so they would come up here and take advantage of the two for $5 shoes. They’d get their new new shoes for school every year,” he said.
Harris and Blackmon looked at the floor and began deciding where to place counters and how she wants her shop to be laid out. Harris is extremely enthusiastic about what’s being planned.
“So we’re going to turn it into a soapery where you can buy all the handmade artisan soaps. You’re also going to be able to get different things like luxury robes, anything spa-like, you’re able to get it there,” Harris said. “We also have an entire men’s line. All kinds of shaving stuff. We’ll even carry the old-timey straight razors and the belts to sharpen it.”
Toward the back of the shop, customers will also be able to watch Harris and her sister-in-law make the soaps.
“We’ll do everything except milk the goats right there. We’re not going to bring goats in, but we are going to make everything back there from the lotions, soaps, everything,” she said.
Harris says her family currently makes 300 to 400 bars of soap a week. On her farm, she has 36 nubian goats and her mother-in-law does the milking. She says the production process has them going through about ten gallons of milk a week.
She’s aiming to open the store by the beginning of July. In the meantime, the key structural work that Blackmon will need to do is replace the roof. Wood that was once used for bowling alley lanes will also be incorporated into the shop. He said one of his hobbies is looking through online marketplaces for old material that can be reused and he found this wood which had been used for a bowling alley in Oklahoma City.
While Harris is excited about her future shop, she’s equally thrilled that it will become part of the revitalization of downtown Glenwood.
“I really feel in five to 10 years it’s going to be even bigger than it is now. So I knew that if I was going to do this, this is where I wanted to be,” she said. “I feel like downtown is really starting to come alive, and it’s just going to get bigger. So if I was going to get in, now is the time to do it.”
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
