A new vendor at our 2014 market, GG Soap and Bath Products have branded themselves and it's impossible to miss them. They are pink. Their shirts are pink, table is pink, and their tent is pink! They stand out because of their bright color choice, but that's not the only reason. They are the only vendor who make and sell their own soap and bath products, and as one customer said while I was interviewing them, "They have the best smelling tent around!" Not only do their soaps smell delicious enough to eat, but they look pretty enough to use as a decoration! The vendors at this tent are Corrine and Gabby Gossage and Karen Anderson, they all reside in Vandergrift, PA. Corrine started in the business of making soap a couple years ago. She has help from her daughter Gabby and mother Karen who are typically at the market with her. She saw soap making online and decided she wanted to give it a try, with a push from her sister who encouraged her to try it and then to market herself by selling at farmers' markets. Corrine says she "likes the old ways, likes to keep the art alive." And that's what she does with her soaps. She has had her hand in all sort of "old ways" of life like spinning, canning, crocheting, and candle making, with soap making being her most recent endeavor. She says, "We lose so much of our history already so I like to keep a little bit of it alive."
As well as having a large variety of soaps in a range of colors, designs, and scents, GG Soap and Bath Products also started making lotions and lip balms. Of the ingredients for their products, they try and buy as much locally as possible, like their oils. They are trying to find local goats milk too, but have struggled finding a local provider who's not using all of their extra goat's milk for cheese. They like to cater to their customer base, so they'll have Black and Gold soaps, and plan on having Red and White soaps for IUP. As well as selling at the Indiana County Farmers' Market on Saturdays, they sell in Vandergrift at their farm market on Thursday and in Export on Tuesday. They will also be featured at the Northern Appalachian Folk Festival this September, to be held in downtown Indiana the weekend of September 5th.
