The Sabater Hnos shop-workshop, in the Plaza de Sant Felip Neri, in the Gótic neighborhood, is a must-see point for Korean tourists visiting Barcelona. Inside this workshop-like space it smells good, clean. Dozens of cardboard boxes display the natural soaps made by Eliana Sabater, an artisan trained in the family tradition of soap makers in Argentina. Sabater opened the store more than 15 years ago and has managed to maintain its artisanal spirit that has given it international fame thanks to tourism and social networks. Now, its delicate lozenges scented with magnolia, fresh grass or lavender (it has more than twenty different ones), its facial treatment soaps and solid shampoos are available at Flying Solo, one of the chicest stores in New York.
Flying Solo, with a store on central W Broadway Street, in the heart of New York's Soho, is an exclusive space with a selection of independent, ethical and unique brands. Sabater Hnos. Fábrica de Jabón products are both in the New York store and on their website with prices between 15 and 35 euros. “Being exhibited in the showroom, and on its website, opens the doors to the North American and European markets, since Flying Solo also has an establishment in the center of Paris,” says Eliana Sabater. In this way, she takes a great commercial and brand leap that allows her to maintain the artisan spirit that is essential for her.
The artisan has always wanted to keep her delicate products in an exclusive circuit, not because of the price (on her website the bar of soap can be purchased from 3 euros), but because it could only be purchased in her Gòtic store and in her own website. "I am not interested in losing control of the product, that it ends up being sold in any souvenir shop or mass marketplace," says Sabater. Distribution through Flying Solo, with similar values to the brand, allows it to remain faithful to its philosophy.
Sabater Hnos soaps are made by hand in a small factory in Poblenou, Barcelona, with machinery created by Eliana Sabater's grandfather, a Spanish emigrant who opened a soap factory in Argentina with his son, today a renowned perfumer and Eliana's father. The entrepreneur and artisan settled in Barcelona in 2006 from Buenos Aires and promoted her adapted version of the almost century-old family business. "I grew up making soap with my two brothers and moving to Spain allowed me to continue the family business but in an independent way, although I always had the support of my father," she argues. "He is a perfumer, when he comes to the store he smells everything and he advises me on the aromas that could be better achieved," explains Sabater.
Today the store in Plaza de Sant Felip Neri maintains the air of a workshop that she sought from the first day. A couple of Korean tourists come in and ask for rice protein soap, one of the cosmetic products. "We are on the circuit of Korean visitors, the truth is that they are very good customers: demanding because they look for quality and many buy large quantities," explains Eliana, who has a soap-making machine in the back room, which she uses during work peaks. or for custom series.
"Our manufacturing process is completely artisanal; we mix olive oil and coconut oil to make the base product, which we then add the aromas and essences or the active ingredients of the soaps with properties and we shape them," says the entrepreneur. For the production and sales process she has a team of six people. In addition to their production, they make personalized soaps for both private clients and companies, a business they want to promote, as well as "online sales, always controlling the destination of the product," concludes Sabater.
