Our History
Since 1988
Sometimes starting up
Fuller's Soaps seems like a story with a very improbable plot
line. My wife, Linda had lost her job and to cheer her up we
went for a ride and ended up in Nevada City, California. The
local hotel was booked, but they recommended a new bed and
breakfast, The Parsonage. We'd never stayed in B&B before
so we decided to have an "adventure".
Little did we know then that it would be the turning
point of our lives . The next morning at The Parsonage, we
joined other guests around the breakfast table. Everyone was
sharing where they were from . When I said I manufactured
glycerin soap, the B&B owner, Deborah Dane froze in the
middle of pouring coffee. "What did you say?" I
said, "I manufacture soap".
She put down the pot, pulled up a chair, sat down and
said, "Oh, if you only knew, soap is such a problem!"
She went on to explain that she had to buy bars of soap for
the rooms at the local drugstore and they were big and
expensive and, of course had to be replaced for each new
guest. I suggested that she buy from wholesaler. She replied.
"This is a Victorian house and there is no storage space
- none," Do you have any idea what the minimum order is?"
You have to order thousands of bars and I have no place to
store them, And have you ever seen their soap, Skinny little
bars? that break as soon as you touch them! I want something
really nice and special for my guests." THE LIGHT WENT
ON!
I explained that I manufactured a very high quality
glycerin soap that was being sold in specialty stores. I
wanted her to know how committed I was to quality so I told
her that when I began the business I went to a chemist to help
me develop the soap formula. The chemist said making soap was
a lot like making chicken soup, you can make it with couple of
wings or you can use the whole chicken. So I spent the money
to be sure our formula was the best. Deborah said she had the
same concept for her inn and we agreed that I would send her a
couple of dozen bars to try.
Driving home I got to thinking, sending her bars of the "retail"
soap wouldn't really help her all that much. They were too
large and costly. I wracked my brain and finally came up with
a way to make a smaller bar for her. I tested it in my own
shower. got 4 long, hot showers out of it before it was too
small for my hand. So I sent a box to her and within the week
she called to order more.
We were off and running, Every chance we had my wife and
I would make sales trips to wherever there were bed and
breakfasts. One of the innkeepers we spoke with said that he
liked being able to buy our soap in small quantites but he
wanted soap with the name of his inn on it. He said he was
more interested in promoting his inn than the name of any soap
maker. What a great idea! It led to whole new dimension in our
business.
Today, Fullers' Soap is still a family-owned and operated
business. We now manufacture a full line of toiletries.
Everything is done in house from label design to printing the
bottles, labels, and boxes. Being vertically integrated allows
us to assure our quality and service.
Looking back, the growth and success of Fullers' Soap is
one answer to prayer after another (the name Fullers' Soap
comes from Malachi 3:2). I could never have imagined that I
would be working with innkeepers from all over the country and
how much I would enjoy it. Doing the trade shows at local,
regional and national innkeeping conferences is always so much
fun and so informative. Everyone at Fullers' Soaps truly
appreciates and values each of our customers. We invite any
one who has not tested the quality of our products and
compared our prices to please do so.
Sincerely,
David Jones President |
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