All-Natural Soaps Coming to Downtown Rochester

A handmade soap company that won small business honors in New Baltimore in 2010 is moving to downtown Rochester this spring.

. will open at 339 East St., in the vacant sage green building near the corner of Fourth Street. The move is designed to give the two-and-a-half-year-old company more production space.

Moon River Soap Co. earned New Baltimore's Business of the Year title in 2010.

The company makes hand-poured olive oil-based soaps.

In a recent newsletter sent to customers, owner Liz Aprea described the reasons behind the move.

"It is with both happiness and sadness that we will be leaving our New Baltimore location," Aprea wrote. "For the past six months we have been looking for more space to make and dry the soap.

"We have built a solid business here and I, of course, worry about relocating at this point of our growing business. But when it comes right down to it our new location will actually be closer to about half of you, so we decided to hold our breath and make the move."

Aprea also previewed some of the features of the new space in Rochester.

"We will have a wall of glass doors so that you will be able to see the soap being made from the start of mixing our botanical oils to the final cutting stage," she said. "We will have a new wrapping soap counter in the front by the register so I can wrap soap and label balms at the front desk instead of going back and forth to my work all day."

Moon River's natural soap collection features more than a dozen different soaps containing eco-friendly ingredients such as olive oil, Michigan honey, shea butter and essential oils. It uses rosemary extract as a natural preservative, but, unlike many mainstream brands, there are no artificial fragrances, synthetic ingredients or animal fat.

For more information on Moon River Soap Co., visit the company's Facebook page or website.