Escape the cold gray winter with a visit to Buff City Soap where cheerful colors and indulgent scents are guaranteed to brighten your day.
At Buff City Soap, proprietors Beth and Stephen Stone, along with their friendly and talented staff, custom make fun, fragrant soaps, luxurious bath and body products, and even laundry soap. A recent customer remarked that it, “Makes me happy every time I do the laundry. Even my 14-year-old loves to do laundry!”
All of Buff City’s goods are made using plant-based ingredients, but what really distinguishes them from other soap companies is their ability to make custom products. Stephen estimates they make 95% of the products sold in the store right here at the “Makery,” a long gleaming table that holds a prominent place by the front door, where you can watch as “Makers” turn a handful of simple ingredients into delightful finished products. “We make it right here and it’s all going to look different because it’s handmade,” says Beth. “You can come and meet Hannah and say, ‘I know the person who made this soap.’”
Hannah Welty is part of Buff City’s tight-knit team. “I love my job,” says Hannah. “It reminds me of baking. You mix ingredients together and make these great products that we then get to sell.” She explains that the entire team works together to brainstorm unique scents. “After a while, the fragrances just map out in your mind. I feel like I can bring out my creative side, bounce ideas off Beth and Stephen, and have them always be receptive and encouraging.”
It's evident that Beth and Stephen respect and cherish their staff. “Everything you see on the floor is to their credit,” says Stephen. With most of the employees being the same age as their son who attends the University of Montana, they like to view themselves as “work parents.” “We’re here for them,” Beth says. “It makes running a business much more satisfying.”
Buff City soap also offers a wealth of products that are ready to go, but still made onsite. A great place to start shopping is the Local table where the team showcases their love of all things Missoula using a variety of colors and scents with labels that are both whimsical and descriptive.
Relish the swirling colors of a Montana sunset with a bar of Big Sky and enjoy the scents of “fresh air and freedom.” Show off your school spirit with the Go Griz! scent, invoking the smell of “victory” along with notes of tobacco leaf, cedar, bergamot, and magnolia flower.
To Beth and Stephen, this Local table represents more than a place to sell soap. Hailing from Tennessee but long dreaming of a life out west, the Stone family moved to Missoula in 2021. Stephen had worked in the production field in Tennessee with the man who started Buff City Soap, so he inquired about opening a franchise here and the rest is history. “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,” says Beth. “It’s been tough with the majority of our family still living in Tennessee, but it’s the best thing we could have done.”
As with many Missoulians, the Stones may not be from here, but they have felt welcomed from day one. In return, and just because that’s the kind of people they are, Beth and Stephen have embraced Missoula and give back to the community as much as possible.
These generous acts take on a variety of forms from donating raffle baskets for fundraisers to committing a portion of sales to local non-profits. Each day, twenty percent of sales from every product sold with the Let’s Rodeo and Jadyn’s Blankie scents go to Chicks n Chaps and the Jadyn Fred Foundation, respectively. “We try to give so much to this community because we’ve met these people,” says Beth. “It’s all about connecting and having relationships.”
“We’re a franchise and some people don’t think of that as local, especially two people that came from Tennessee,” says Stephen. “But we are local. We take pride in this store and the people we work with, and we try to make a difference in the community. We’re not trying to change Montanans. We want to learn how Montanans want this done because we are super proud to be here.”
“We try to give so much to this community because we’ve met these people. It’s all about connecting and having relationships.” Beth Stone
“We’re a franchise and some people don’t think of that as local, especially two people that came from Tennessee. But we are local. We take pride in this store and the people we work with, and we try to make a difference in the community." Stephen Stone
