By Lisa Carolin
Business Name: FarmSudz
Business address: 109 S. Main St., Chelsea
Business email, telephone number : info@farmsudz.com/ 734-593-7030
Business hours: Tue – Sat 10 am-5 pm, Fridays til 6 pm
Business website: www.farmsudz.com
Thanks to the high cost her husband was paying to buy goat milk soap from Arizona, Julie Konkle challenged him, and said that she could make goat milk soap herself.
That was in 2013.
She took out a book on soap making from the Chelsea District Library, and after about 50 batches, she finally got the recipe right. She calls the experience “a happy accident”.
“I made soap, lotion, lip balm and BooBooz Magic Balm in my Chelsea farmhouse basement (Hence the name FarmSudz) until 2018 (after retiring from her career in nursing in 2017) when I moved into a cute basement space in downtown Chelsea and brought on my niece Erin to help. That was the beginning of FarmSudz Underground.”
In July of 2022, FarmSudz moved above ground to its current space on South Main Street in the old Vogel’s and Foster’s building. (Konkle also has a shop in Jackson, Michigan.)
“We love our big, beautiful new space with windows,” said Konkle. “We are no longer cellar dwellers and love the history and features of our beautiful space complete with some of the original shelving that is at least 100 years old.”
Along with soap, FarmSudz sells all kinds of handmade, natural skincare products that they make right in the shop. That includes a face care line, scrubs, solid shampoo and conditioner, and topical CBD. Konkle boasts that her friendly staff are all skincare experts.
“There is always some new ingredient that excites us because we love to formulate new products,” said Konkle. “We also are always putting out new sustainably and thoughtfully sourced new products, and also make perfect favors for weddings and showers. We also love to put together gifts for people.”
She thinks Chelsea is a great small town for shopping as well as for eating out and hanging out.
“It is the perfect town for our type of shop, and we provide entertainment, too,” said Konkle, citing the music that is always playing in the store. “We love our customers and they keep coming back. Come in as a visitor and leave as a friend. We are going to make a “Sudzer” out of you.”
