We feel so lucky that the weather has pretty much held for us (virtually an impossibility this late in the year for Washington State) and the roof got put on before the rains started. We can hardly wait to move into the new space (that is, after our roller skating party!).

After being in our lovely 13,000 square foot warehouse for over five years, we were faced this summer with the prospect of moving or trying to build onto our warehouse. After working with the City of Bellingham to get a waiver for the 22 extra parking spaces they initially told us we needed to add (apparently they were treating our warehouse storage space like retail), we started planning for our very-needed addition in earnest. It was important to us to be able to stay in Bellingham and not add to the problem of sprawl in our county by being forced to move out there so we were thrilled to be able to add on to our building and stay in Bellingham city limits.

There’s a lot that goes on with a building project of this magnitude, not the least of which is that the City of Bellingham wanted us to put a sprinkler system into our entire 13,000 square foot warehouse and not just the 2,500 square foot addition. That added an extra month or so of delay and a significant additional cost. But in the end, we are happy to sprinkler the entire building to help keep firemen safer should a fire ever break out in our building (knock on wood). The middle photo up above is Norman, our COO and defacto General on the building project, wearing my pink soaping goggles to protect his eyes as the gravel gets poured.

After all of the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed, we had the permits in hand but alas, it was October – much later than when we had originally anticipated starting and the start of the rainy season. We had our very first cost overrun the first day but luckily, one week later, nothing new or major has cropped up that wasn’t planned for.

This is the difference between 1 week to the next. Check it out! Trusses! Yay. Soon, by next week, it won’t even matter if it rains because the roof will be on. Yay!

We are so thrilled to be adding on to our space because it means more room for new products and more room to better serve you. We’ll keep you posted on how the building project goes. Right now, we’re just all thankful it’s not raining yet…

If you already have Bramble Berry’s Soap App be sure to check your iPhone for the update. Bramble Berry just added a new feature: The Soap App can now calculate Liquid Soap! Just choose Bar (cold process) or Liquid (liquid soap).

We have lots of exciting Fall arrivals at Bramble Berry. We have six new fragrances coming by the end of the month but to whet your appetite, two of them are already here and they’re perfect for the chilly season ahead.