All Good Things Soaps – Good for You & the Environment!

In honor of Small Business Saturday this weekend, Nashville Wraps wants to encourage customers to shop local this holiday season to support your communities. For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to that community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures.

We not only support local businesses, but feel honored to have so many great small businesses as our customers, like All Good Things Natural Soaps & Such. After successfully making soap and handcrafted body care products for 13 years in her home, Sonia Folkner and her husband Larry decided to open a storefront three years ago in downtown Madison, Indiana.

In classic small-business style, Larry runs the store while Sonia focuses on making their 30+ kinds of natural essential oil soaps. Their oldest son Clay and his wife Carlene help make candles, and even their youngest son Luke fills in as their “go-to” guy for whatever help they need. In 2011, they were named the “Indiana Main Street Business of the Year”!

All Good Things focuses on natural and biodegradable products made from essential oils and botanical oils. Some of their most popular soaps include Balmy Baby Bar, Orange Twist and Lovely Lavender.

It’s important to them that their products be good not only for their customers, but also for the environment. That is why Nashville Wraps’ Green Way® packaging is their choice for biodegradable, recycled, and recyclable packaging.

All Good Things uses recycled paper bags for point of sale and gift bags, along with tissue paper, shreds, recycled boxes, paper ribbons and biodegradable and compostable cello bags from Nashville Wraps.

To promote their shop, they’ve found that word of mouth is their best advertising. People sometimes come in and say that their co-worker smelled so great and told them they have to go to All Good Things Soaps. Many new customers will come in and say they received a gift from a friend or family member, and they loved it so much they wanted to buy more.

Because All Good Things is located in a historic downtown area, many of their customers are tourists. They enjoy being able to represent the local community. Unfortunately, “many locals don’t see the benefit of shopping local and are inclined to shop at the big box stores instead,” explains Sonia. However, since Christmas is one of their busiest seasons, they run a local newspaper ad promoting “Free Gift Wrapping Through the Holidays” – an added value which won’t be found at those big box stores.

Another important way they promote their business is their store window displays. Sonia loves to use her imagination while keeping costs down. She’ll get an idea to display a certain product and build on that. Thrift stores have been a great source of inexpensive items to make displays, and she also throws some Nashville Wraps shopping bags into the mix. For her Christmas open house, Sonia was short on time, so she put wrapping paper in the window with a big bow to look like a giant present!

We’re excited to have customers like All Good Soaps who share the same values as Nashville Wraps in promoting beautiful, eco-friendly products. During this busy holiday season, please take a moment to let your customers know how much their business means to you and your local community.