Description of Business

Bath Junkie, Inc., is a corporation offering franchises for the operation of retail stores selling bath and body related products. Bath Junkie, Inc. first came into existence as a legal entity in July of 2000. Its predecessor was Soap Opera, a proprietorship consisting of three bath and body products stores located in Fayetteville and Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Soap Opera had previously existed as a sole proprietorship since October 1995. All capital for the operation and growth of Bath Junkie has been risk capital provided by the proprietors themselves.

Bath Junkie, Inc. is owned by Judy Zimmer and Jocelyn Murray, a mother/daughter team. The two own the trademarked Bath Junkie name, and have owned and operated various incarnations of the concept since 1987. After thirteen years of perfecting their formula and numerous daily requests from investors to buy stores, the two decided to look into franchising their operation first in the spring of 2000.

Zimmer's background includes design, retail sales, and real estate, and Murray has a background in entertainment, law and retail sales. The two have designed this franchise to be an alternative to corporate life for independent-minded professional women who dream of owning their own business.

Zimmer and Murray have created a New York loft-like decor that is minimalist and colorful at the same time, providing a unique atmosphere that is modern, yet comfortable, and sets it apart from any other bath store. Bath Junkies' signature metal shelving provides pleasing, clean lines, which contrast with the bright colors adorning the walls, creating and aesthetic that is vibrant, unisex, and pleasing to customers from any demographic. Excess liquid product inventory is stored in gallon jugs on the bottom shelves where customers can see them, giving the stores the feel of production facilities. This means that customers can see the entire custom blending process from start to finish.

With over two hundred different fragrances and thirty base products, Bath Junkie is able to offer customer service and individual attention to detail that is unsurpassed by any other store of its kind. At Bath Junkie, customers are treated to on-site mixing. Products are mixed fresh for each customer, to their exact fragrance and color specifications. Fragrances and base products are kept behind a bar, and customers use a menu and fragrance testers to create their own personalized order. Bath Junkie Mix-Masters serve up products per customer requests. Picture it as a soda fountain for bath products. Perhaps a customer wants green apple fragranced products, but his/her bathroom is decorated in purple. Bath Junkie can make it happen. Bath Junkie not only offers this high-level of customer service, but offers all-natural, cruelty-free products of the highest quality. Customers first come to Bath Junkie for the many customization options available, but return because the products themselves are second to none.

With this strong emphasis placed on customer service, inventories at Bath Junkie are kept at a minimum. That is because our biggest seller is not a tangible product—it's a process, the process of pleasing the customer's sense of smell, choice of colors and, most exciting, the sense of personalization of their purchase. Each customer is then given a gift bag with tissue paper matching the color they selected for their product to complete the Bath Junkie experience. Even if the products they purchased are for themselves, we make it clear that they have just done something special to indulge themselves or that lucky someone in a small, but meaningful way.