May 2009: Kathleen & Don Houghton, Pioneer Natural Soap Co.
Kathleen and Don Houghton started selling the "Pioneer Natural Soap Co." soaps at Saturday Market in 1998. Before that, Kathleen spent an entire year experimenting in the kitchen, developing and perfecting her product. And way before that, Kathleen's grandmother was a soap maker as well. In fact, Kathleen still uses her grandmother's recipe to make laundry soap.
Over the winter, Don and Kathleen gave their booth a makeover, which warranted this "Beautiful Booth" page. For years, purple was their color. They switched over to warm, calming earth tones, gave their labelling a new look, and got a nice new sign for the back of the booth. Unchanged, though, is the abundance of products in an abundance of delicious scents.
It's not just about soap at the Pioneer Natural booth, you'll also find lotions, shower gels, soy candles, scented oils and much more. Kathleen is also always developing new body care products and scents. Look for new scents this summer in the shower gels, "Mango Mango," "Lemon Balm," and "Fig Pomegranate." I was surprised to learn that Kathleen and Don's passion for helping out scent sensitive and allergic folks has led them to make many unscented products. One of their best sellers is unscented organic Oatmeal Honey Shea Butter soap.
The Pioneer Natural Soap Co. opened a store in Springfield in July of 2005. Why keep a Market booth going when you have a storefront? "I love it!" was Kathleen's quick answer. Feedback from customers tells them that they want to be able to find them at Market, and it's a great place to meet new customers. They feel that the locations really work well together and support each other.
You can find Pioneer Natural Soaps in space T8 along E. Park St, and at their store at 2148 Main St. in Springfield.
