She couldn’t possibly let the declining economy get in the way of her dreams. So, sticking to the decision she took before the Wall Street crash in September, Vivian Dritsas quit her well-paying Citibank job in October to dedicate herself to her passion - making and selling soap out of her shop in Astoria.
“The economy scared me, but I had to make a decision,” said Dritsas, 29, adding that developing her business right now also allows her to do her share of stimulating the economy.
The Little Soap Shop, on 36th Street, off of Ditmars Boulevard, had already been open for a year, serving customers on weekends only and yielding a small profit. That’s why Dritsas felt that turning her endeavor into a full-time business would be viable.
During that one year when the store was open part-time, Dritsas would return home to Astoria from her Citibank job in Manhattan, where she did legal and administrative work, and spend her evenings making soap in her 200-square-foot, lavender-colored shop.
Now, Dritsas, a bubbly woman with long black curls, devotes more time to soap-making and opens the shop six days a week. She said she promotes the soap and her other hand-made products, which include candles, bath salts and bath teas, with fliers, the cheapest form of advertising. When customers bring back the fliers, they get a discount of 20 or 50 percent, Dritsas explained.
Her marketing strategy also involves regularly changing the scents of her products, though she also sticks to classics such as vanilla. “I keep working. I keep coming up with ideas,” she said.
By using these techniques and keeping the store open full-time, Dritsas now attracts a larger clientele, which allows her business to yield a bigger profit than before, though all of this money still goes back into the store, she explained.
But the biggest satisfaction for Dritsas comes from the fact that she can finally do what she loves - making natural products with her hands, something that she has enjoyed since being a teenager. About two years ago, she discovered that she really enjoyed making soap, so she took a soap-making class and started making soap, giving it away to friends and family.
Dritsas makes her soap in her store using a method known as cold process. First, she heats oil and then stirs in water and sodium hydroxide, also known as lye. This substance makes it possible for water and oil, the two main soap ingredients, to mix. When this blend thickens to a trace, she adds botanical oils or herbs. Then she pours all this into a wooden mold and covers it for 24 hours so it can be hard enough to cut into bars.
Dritsas is also happy with her decision to stick with her passion full-time because of the sizable layoffs that have been taking place at the troubled Citibank.
“If I was working there now, the anxiety of not knowing what’s going to be next, that would have been scary,” Dritsas. “I feel a little bit safer.”
Among the people who have been supporting Dritsas in her commitment to soap-making is her brother, Chris Dritsas, who is a partner in the business.
He also gave Dritsas the money to open the shop. “I felt taking this type of chance would pay off,” he explained.
Dritsas said she plans to expand her business within two years and hire somebody to help her with sales and soap making.
