Soap firm survives and thrives in Sherbrooke
Natural product business braves on amid fires and Fiona
When Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia in late September, the high winds tore up trees and caused widespread power outages and damage across Guysborough County. And, for some, it’s still being felt.
The Soap Company of Nova Scotia was one of those impacted but even though the Sherbrookebased business was dangerously close to the eye of the storm, owner Leigh Mcfarlane says they got off pretty lucky.
“Infrastructure-wise, we didn’t really suffer any damage, which was great,” says Mcfarlane, noting a few roof shingles flew away and power was out for the better part of a week. “(But) there’s a generator with the building so it was a really great opportunity to test how the system works.”
If Mcfarlane seems relatively calm about being dangerously close to the centre of what was one of the strongest storms to ever hit
Canada, it might because she is no stranger to tragedy.
Last November, Mcfarlane watched helplessly as her home and natural soap and beauty line business burn to the ground. Although she lost almost
everything in the blaze, including a large batch of retail orders that were ready to be shipped, Mcfarlane was buoyed by the outpouring of support in the aftermath.
“It was as if the community held us up in a great big hug,” says the local entrepreneur. “My mom took me in and then folks dropped off clothes and helped out in all kinds of ways and then with the company they were like, what do you need?”
She was soon flooded with donations and handed a cheque by the local Lion’s Club to help with basic necessities. People even helped Mcfarlane quickly find a new location.
“We started making soap within two weeks at the former fire hall in Sherbrooke,” recalls Mcfarlane. “That allowed us to get soap made and curing, which then allowed us to meet our obligation to fulfill orders that we had started taking the week of the fire.”
Soon after, she had the Soap Company back in full operation and, by July, she even opened a new Sanctuary Shore General Store (which replaced a similar market which was also lost in the fire).
“No fire is going to stop the dream from becoming real,” laughs Mcfarlane about relaunching the store that offers food and produce from local vendors in addition to her own products.
“There was never a question that we weren’t going to continue. That was never on the table.”
Mcfarlane has also taken the opportunity to start over and rebrand her Soap Company of Nova Scotia products with new packaging, essentially resetting nearly 20 items and restocking them in stores across the province.
Indeed, Mcfarlane’s optimism seems impervious to tragedy and, if anything, it has seemed to give the Soap Company founder an entirely new drive to fashion quality goods for Guysborough County.
“It’s really neat how things work out,” says Mcfarlane, who says she is now aiming to open a café in the store by next summer.
“We have folks coming in all the time looking for that so that’s in the works in the coming months (but) we do one thing at a time.”
For more information on Soap Company of Nova Scotia, visit www.soapnovascotia.com