Retailer offers new spin on bath products

Tag : bathing products

Calming and serene, the store's mint-green walls and sparseinterior make for an atmosphere where the focus is solely on thecustomer and the products they want.
"We can find a product for everyone, men and women," co-owner AmyGriffin said.
The concept behind Bath Junkie is simple - different naturalunscented, untinted bath products line the walls. Customers pick ascent or combination of scents from the 200 fragrances availablealong with a tint out of nine basic colors, and Bath Junkie willmake a specialized bath product or lotion right in front of theireyes.
"Everything starts out unfragranced and non-tinted," co-owner TaniaHoggins said. "That means if you want bright orange blueberrylotion, you can have bright orange blueberry lotion."
Hoggins and Griffin became interested in the franchise last yearafter stumbling onto a Bath Junkie location in New Orleans. Bothstay-at-home moms and friends, the duo had discussed going intobusiness together and pursued the franchise for the Hattiesburgarea.
"We thought that this was something unique to the Hattiesburgarea," Griffin said. "We're very excited about it because we thinkthat the Hattiesburg area is ready for this type of business."
The Hattiesburg location opened the first week of October and thusfar, Griffin said, business has improved as people discover thelocation. Located in the Turtle Creek Commons near Kohl'sDepartment store, Bath Junkie has started receiving some foottraffic as well.
"We wanted an area with good access from both east and west,"Griffin said. "This location sees a lot of foot traffic and we alsowanted to be in a place where we had some identifying landmarks.Kohl's is a good one."
One of the perks of Bath Junkie, Griffin said, is that allcustomers who walk in get a free spa treatment for their hands.Some of the most popular products - exfoliating salt scrub and alotion called Body Dessert - are used in the treatment.
"The spa treatment lets them see and feel the products," she said."It also gives them a chance to ask questions about what we do."
Bath Junkie also has a semi-private space for birthday parties,baby and wedding showers as well as other get-togethers. The eventsfor those occasions include games where the prizes are Bath Junkieproducts, Griffin said, with the participants able to create theirown products.
While the economy is not in the best condition to be starting abusiness, Griffin believes that the concept of Bath Junkie coupledwith hard work will allow them to make it.
"The biggest part of this is that we believe in these products,"Griffin said.
"Before we decided to pursue the franchise, we bought theseproducts and used them in our homes. Yes, starting a business isdefinitely a challenge in today's economy and it's hard not toworry, but so far so good."
Hoggins and Griffin want customers to create and buy products thatthey will use in their homes just as they do.
"I don't want a customer to walk out of here, get home, look in thebag and say 'Why did I buy this?'" Hoggins said.
"We want them to know that they are getting a unique, good productthat they will use. We want them to be happy with what they pickedand hope they'll come back."