Vermont Soap Production Moving To New Location....Retail Store To Stay
By Mike Cameron
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An after-fire damage assessment will necessitate the owner of Vermont Soapworks on Exchange Street to relocate his company's production operation to a new location about a quarter mile further up the road just off Exchange Street on Industrial Avenue.
Good news for Vermont Soapwork's customers is that the companies popular retail store will remain open at its Exchange Street location according to owner Larry Pleasant. The building that housed both the soap factory and store will be redone according to the property owner.
The June 4, 2014 blaze was quickly extinguished by Middlebury and area volunteer fighters but not before the heat, smoke and water damage, made the building untenable for a resumption of long term operations without major renovations both inside and out.
A herculean effort by soapworks employees to get the factory back into the manufacturing process and re-open their retail operation was successful and they were shipping product and selling retail two days after the fire.
During the week of June 9, Soapworks employees were busy moving equipment and products to their new location in the former Specialty Filaments building off Exchange Street. Pleasant told the Voice that he would have all of his production components moved by Friday June 2014and begin operations shortly thereafter.
The Vermont Soapworks factory and store have been a mainstay on Exchange Street for many years and was one of the first businesses to help the Exchange Street section of Middlebury develop as a major commercial center here in the heart of Addison County.