All-natural soaps, related products at Red Bank store; owner looks to expand
Working as a textile designer, Ellen D’Amore traveled the world.
There were stops at mills in India, China, Russia and throughout Europe. It was during those trips that she lathered up her passion, buying and trying all-natural soaps from around the world.
“I bought soap in every country in Europe I went to,” said D’Amore, of Red Bank. “I’d stock up there.”
In late 2004, D’Amore turned her love of soap into a business, opening Soapmarket in Red Bank. Now she is looking to expand her growing shop’s gift-basket business; she’s also redesigning the store’s Web site.
Besides soap, Soapmarket sells other bath and body products, including shampoo and body wash, for women and men.
It’s a business she enjoys. “I appreciate what a nice soap feels like in the shower or using nice lotions and smelling good and having a nice bath,” she said.
Before she opened her store, D’Amore was a fabric designer working in the garment district in New York City, employed by textile companies that sold fabrics to clothing manufacturers. But after 20 years, she wanted a change.
