You probably think you know what this week’s column is about. You likely took one look at the robe decorated with plastic bubbles, the baskets packed with bath products and the party table and decided this week’s River City Roundabout is for the ladies.
If you made that assumption, you’re wrong. This week’s column is for men.
Take a closer look at the baskets of bath products for a clue regarding why. The spray bottles in the baskets are empty. Now look at the nearest calendar and note the date. If you’re reading this column on the day of its publication, it’s December 23 - two days before Christmas.
A picture should be coming into focus. And a slight panic might be settling into your chest. You might even be starting to sweat.
Relax. We have you covered.
If you’re like me, you’ve done your holiday homework. Starting in September, I start writing down the things my wife says she wants. And, one by one, I begin stockpiling presents for the Big Day. But in the four years we’ve been married, something puzzling has happened on Christmas morning. As she’s unwrapped her packages, her level of excitement level has rarely risen above a three on a scale of ten.
When I’ve strayed off The List, the results have been even worse. Before my wife got a smartphone, she’d often ask me how cold it was outside, so I bought her a wireless thermometer with a digital receiver. I couldn’t wait for her to complIment my ingenuity. She thought it was a gag gift.
In a nutshell, my wife is one tough customer.
The usual solution is to purchase a gift card, as it would allow your spouse to pick out what she likes. While gift cards have their place, as a present for your significant other, they lack the personal touch. Plus, you run the risk of her not finding something to her liking.
That won’t happen at Bath Junkie, which specializes in tough customers. At Bath Junkie, located at Hamilton Place near Carrabba’s, customers invent their own scrubs, soaks, lotions, washes and body mists.
It works like this: You go to Bath Junkie and buy a Fill ‘Er Up gift basket, such as the one pictured on this page, and then present it to your beloved on Christmas morning. She takes the basket back to the store, where she fills the empty containers with the products she desires. Not only will she return home with items she’ll actually use, she’ll have a good time making them.
The Bath Junkie experience begins at the Scent Station, where your nose can sample hundreds of aromas you can mix and match according to your preferences. If you’re leery of creating your own combination, you can select one from a menu with dozens of preconcocted blends. Next, you choose a color. Then a Bath Junkie employee makes the product right before your eyes.
There’s more to Bath Junkie’s products than meets the eyes, or the nose. For example, many of the store’s products are all-natural and contain biodegradable ingredients, which are better for our bodies and our planet. Bath Junkie’s products are also free of bad things, like phosphates, minerals, alcohol and parabens. (Parabens are found in many bath products and have been linked to breast cancer.) In addition, Bath Junkie’s products are “cruelty free,” meaning nearly all of the store’s merchandise has no animal by-products.
Not only that, but Bath Junkie is just plain fun to visit. For starters, the place looks like a cross between an upscale Manhattan loft and the production line at a factory. Plus, co-owner Amber Roggeman has done a great job of designing creative displays, including the bubble bedecked bathrobe.
Bath Junkie also includes a space for parties and offers unique pet products such as That Darn Dog Shampoo and custom-scented Mutt Mist.
Amber and her husband, Brent, discovered the Bath Junkie concept while on vacation. Eager to try the world of retail, Amber resigned from her position as a school teacher and the couple opened their first store in Turkey Creek in 2007. Once the venture proved successful, expanding into Chattanooga was an easy decision.
“Many of our customers at our Turkey Creek store were from Chattanooga,” Amber told me. “The Shoppes at Hamilton Place offered the perfect location to better serve those guests and reach more.”
If you’re in a last minute bind, or if you want to put your array of gifts over the top, check out Bath Junkie. On my visit, I purchased shower seltzers for my wife. They melt in the shower and release a scintillating aroma. I can’t wait for her to compliment my ingenuity!
Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.