Our Story
 
When our first grandchild was two years old, our daughter commented that he had patches of dry skin that she didn’t know what else to do about. She had tried changing soap, laundry detergent, ointments and creams from the pediatrician, but nothing helped.
 
As concerned grandparents, we did research.  We found that many times, the ingredients in commercially prepared products are often the culprit. So we made soap. And it helped! It worked! Now we were on the hunt for where we could just buy it already made.
 
There were no stores locally that sold homemade, all natural soap. We also found that going to craft shows was hit and miss. Either no one was selling soap or – and this happens often – people were selling soap that was “homemade”, but NOT all natural. Most crafters sell melt & pour soaps which are full of chemicals!
 
So we made soap. Again. It started in the kitchen. And spread to the dining room. Pretty soon the living room became production / storage. With increasing demand we signed our first lease in spring, 2010. Rosewood Emporium was born.
 
Our purpose in life became creating products that WE make, from scratch, with natural and completely chemical free ingredients.
Our rule: The Golden Rule.
And education. We strive to educate our customers in any area we have knowledge.
 
Our first store,  a modest 920 square foot space in a vintage building with a partial original tin ceiling was home. We were ready for business.
 
A short five months later, Greg thought we should “cut our losses” because our business wasn’t really thriving in the way we were expecting it to. You should have heard THAT discussion!! We made some changes, took no pay (thank goodness Greg had a full time job!!) and forged on.
 
Business picked up as word spread, and our little vintage building was busting at the seams! To walk through our production area required side stepping along a narrow path!
 
In spring, 2014 we signed a lease on a 1820 square foot store in our local mall. We began the demo process – tearing out walls and rebuilding walls. We added a rough sawn red pine floor to the entire retail area. That was labor intensive and time consuming! But it looks SO good. We did this work with the help of Ronda’s cousin Steve – all after hours, when we were done with our day jobs! Our projected opening was set for June 1, 2014.
 
And then an event that we never saw coming. Greg, an upper management employee at a printing company for twelve years was told his services were no longer needed. Our income was gone.
 
So… We stepped up to the plate and got the new location finished. We opened two weeks before our projected date.
 
This was a case of “cannot fail” and pure Faith. We struggled at first, learning to work together on what had been Ronda’s turf.
 
And business exploded.

By this point we had some major wins behind us: our Lotion Bar being purchased by a hospital to be used in their foot clinic. Our Poison Ivy soap being recommended by doctors and pharmacists. And our Essential Oils being recommended to families with a loved one in hospice care. And the list goes on.

Our daughter, Becca joined us in 2016 and is our marketing guru, our new product developer, an incredibly talented soap maker, basically, Becca is an all around necessity here at Rosewood Emporium! 
 
At this point we all felt it necessary to validate and expand our knowledge. All 3 of us became Certified Aromatherapists, and Ronda became certified as an Herbalist. We are all happy to share our knowledge with you, and to give you the necessary education to make the best informed choices when it comes to your health and well being. 
 
With those years behind us, and so many happy, and returning customers, it was time to include a web presence for Rosewood Emporium. Now our products are available to you any hour of the day, any day of the week!! 

With the passage of time come changes. Changes that were unwelcome and extremely difficult to navigate. On January 10, 2022, my husband, Greg, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Myself and Becca navigated through every obstacle and challenge until early September, 2022. At that time, Becca moved on and I became the sole person at Rosewood Emporium, again. This required more changes and adaptations! I'm still here, doing what I love, and will continue to do so for as long as possible. I try to always remember something that Greg found to be important: "Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time."