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Retail Fix

Retail Fix

by | Oct 30, 2023 | November 2023, Stuff

Shop till you drop for local art, books and furniture this month

Botany plants lately? No matter the answer, you’re gonna wanna check out Raleigh Iron Works’ recently announced tenants, local houseplant shop Urban Pothos and Nashville-based on-demand florist Amelia’s Flowers, perf for any plant parent/flower fanatic—both slated to bow this fall. You grow, girl/boy! @ameliasflowertruck; @urbanpothos

Urban Pothos

Drumroll, please 🥁! Pop-Up Shops on Martin Street’s newest tenants Art by SRG and Needle & Thread Co. are primed for all your style needs—from upcycled clothing and band tees galore to artwork simply celebrating the beauty of being human. How on point. @artbysrg; @needlethreadco

“Self-care, I’m treatin’ me right.” Take a hint from Mac Miller and indulge at DTR’s The Self Care Marketplace, a one-stop shop for goodies that’ll make ya feel, well, good—from yoga gear and homemade goods to soaps and teas. @theselfcaremarketplacenc 

Add this one to your Goodreads list. Follow Raleighite Andrea Lytle Peet’s journey via her inspirational book, Hope Fights Back, as she learns to live her life to the fullest with ALS. YGG! @go_on_be_brave

Home decor ops just keep getting bed-er (see what we did there). … Find NC-based Fairfield Chair debuting its Camille Collection, which flaunts classically designed beds, nightstands and dressers. Sweet dreams, indeed! @fairfieldchair

Start every month with an “aww!” when you glance at Perfectly Imperfect Pups’ first-ever Triangle Dogs of the Year Calendar feting paws-itively perfect pups—with proceeds benefiting high-risk and special needs dogs. Paws for applause! @pipsrescue 

Walk, walk, fashion baby. Raleigh Denim Workshop made an appearance on the runway at New York Fashion Week, showcasing its upcycled and reworked denim with playful touches. How jean-ius (!). @raleighworkshop

Raleigh Denim Photo by Giles Clement courtesy of Raleigh Denim Workshop; The Self Care Marketplace place photo by Kimberly Thigpen; Triangle Dogs of the Year Calendar photo by Five Freedoms Photography; remaining photos courtesy of brands

Squeaky Clean 

Squeaky Clean 

by | Sep 30, 2022 | October 2022, Stuff

Scrub up on small business soap shop The Bath Place and its bubbly owner.

“Simply fresh, confident and clean” is the MO of founder and Chief Soap Artist Kimberly Clayton Thigpen’s The Bath Place, which recently opened a second location at the Pop-Up Shops at Martin Street—and it’s exactly what you’ll get with her spa-quality natural products made with simple ingredients (read: no harmful chemicals!). 

Thigpen started making soaps in 2006 in response to a family member of hers who suffered from eczema. She began researching soapmaking and looked for ways to incorporate shea butter into soap, which she found worked well for the condition. In the process, she fell in love with the approach to making soap by hand.

“It’s joyful for me,” gushes Thigpen. “Like, ‘Oh, my gosh! I made soap and it actually works!’ Even if I wasn’t selling it, I would do it for free. It’s just therapeutic.”  

After three years of moonlighting and selling her products—think body and facial bars, lip scrubs, candles, hand sanitizer, and soap (natch)—online and at craft shows, festivals and farmers markets, Thigpen opened her first retail shop in Rocky Mount in 2012. Now, after over a decade of business, in addition to the two brick-and-mortars, The Bath Place products have even bubbled onto shelves at five local Whole Foods Market locations (!).

And the world is taking note. Thigpen’s business made the pages of Travel + Leisure, and she was one of this year’s keynote speakers at Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s esteemed State of Downtown program. Talk about scrubbing up success! “We had to learn to create the product at scale,” she says. “But while the process has changed, we try to keep the love involved.”

With no intention of leaving Raleigh anytime soon (who can blame her), this artisan soapmaking mom of six and small-business owner has her sights set on a clean future. She’s currently working on building out a warehouse facility, increasing her community engagement and finding a permanent space in Raleigh (“I love it here!” she says). Talk about a soap-erstar. thebathplace.com