This month, Muddy Creek Soap Company on Penn Avenue in West Reading will celebrate its Fifth Anniversary in their current location. Owner Beverly Kelly-Carfagno has been in business since 2009, when she began selling handmade soaps out of her home.
She eventually built a website, began selling her products at craft shows, and eventually opened her brick and mortar location on Penn Avenue in 2016. While she still continues to craft her soaps and bath bombs at home, many of the items that are sold in the shop are now made onsite.
Muddy Creek Soap Company offers a wide selection of products made with organic, all-natural, and vegan-friendly ingredients, such as soaps, lotions, body butters, sugar scrubs, and shower gels.
Kelly-Carfagno shared that she also carries a specialized men’s line at the store that includes products such as beard wash, beard oil, and shaving soaps. Some of the most popular products that she sells, however, are her intensely scented bath bombs and shower steamers.
“They have a high concentration of essential oils [in them],” she said, noting that her “Sinus Steamer” shower steamer is especially popular this time of year.
As the weather starts to thaw, Kelly-Carfagno is eager to resume the BYOB night classes that Muddy Creek Soap Company used to offer. “We [used to have] make and take events on Tuesdays and Wednesday nights,” she said “Up to 8 people [were taught to make] lotions, glycerin-based soaps, and steamers using whatever fragrances or essential oils they wanted to.”
For the Fifth Anniversary celebration, Kelly-Carfagno will host a Covid-safe event on February 12, from 10-8pm, in the store to celebrate, as she has done for anniversary celebrations in years past.
“The store is usually pretty packed,” she said. “We would serve wine and snacks.” This particular anniversary is particularly special to Kelly-Carfagno due to the unique challenges that small business owners have suffered during the pandemic, and she expressed her gratitude for her customers. “It is unbelievable how compassionate and loyal [they] are,” she said.
