Shops on South Van Buren Street have a new neighbor in the old Sweetwater Gallery building, as Redhead Apothecary moved in earlier this month.
Owner Anna Schram said last week that she had been looking for a new space in order to allow her business to grow.
“We didn’t have room to expand, that was the biggest factor,” Schram said last week.
“I was looking around town, trying to find something, but everywhere I called that had an open space was already under contract. When this one came up, I jumped on it immediately.”
Schram’s business previously shared a space on Washington Street with Haven Lee Boutique, owned by Susan Wagler.
Schram is a Brown County transplant, moving from Greenfield with her husband eight years ago.
She’s also an United States Army veteran and worked in the IT department for Community Hospital in Indianapolis, where she retired four years ago.
After her retirement, she and her husband planned on traveling, then COVID hit. She instead found herself wanting to do something for other female veterans and entrepreneurs.
Her daughters work in the health care industry, and called her asking for sanitizer and face masks, so she started producing sanitizers to send to other nurses.
Schram has always created her own skin products, coming from a family that has always been in the soap-making game because of their own skin issues like eczema or psoriasis.
Family members found that many popular products from larger brand names would irritate their skin, so Schram decided to enter into the business professionally.
She decided they needed a business — Redhead Apothecary (named after her and her daughter’s hair color) — to vend her skincare line as well as help other women, whether they were veterans or not.
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Her business became a way to help give back, she said last year.
Schram and Wagler joined forces one year ago to bring confidence and empowerment to shoppers in Brown County.
Wagler has been the owner of Haven Lee Boutique since January of 2021, after taking it over for a friend, selling clothing, accessories and more.
The shop was originally in Loogotee, southwest of Brown County, so Wagler was commuting more than an hour from her home in Morgantown.
Wagler was working as a server at Out of the Ordinary when she met Schram.
Schram said in October the two hit it off and decided to open a storefront together, which opened in March of last year.
Up until this month, the two separate businesses shared a space on Washington Street, in the old location of Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and So Much More on Washington Street, in the Brown County Visitor’s Center building.
The two began their joint business with a common goal to empower and bring confidence to their shoppers.
Shoppers can still visit Haven Lee Boutique at the original location.
In addition to soaps, bath bombs and beard oil, the shop carries items like intention jars and sage sticks, the latter of which Schram always tells customers make great bug repellent when thrown into a fire.
With her own lines expanding and finding more female veteran vendors, Schram found that she needed a place to grow.
Schram’s new location is a square building nestled next to the Artist Colony Shops and features a panoramic view of the area.
Its unique features will be leaned into when Halloween rolls around, Schram said, working with other businesses to present a Hocus Pocus theme.
For the next few weeks, Schram is bringing in more female veteran suppliers, vending things like lip gloss, pens, badge reels, yarn and more.
Schram said she did welcome one male veteran to vend in Redhead Apothecary — her father, who served in Vietnam and does wildlife photography.
Redhead Apothecary moved within three weeks of acquiring the space, Schram said.
“I had to open the doors as quickly as I could, because I don’t want the girls bringing their products in to go without money too,” she said.
“I wanted to make sure we keep that going.”
While there is open space in the store right now, it won’t stay that way for too long. A veteran jeweler will be coming soon and Schram’s own skincare and tea lines will be expanding too.
Veteran shoppers also get a 10% discount.
For Schram, the most important thing is to help other women, whether they’re offering support to customers or other businesswomen.
She said last year that too many people forget to “stop and help the next person in line.” At this point in her life that’s all she has time to do, she said.
“We’re trying to build those relationships in town, with our suppliers,” Schram said last week.
“We’re slowly getting there. … We are expanding so we can offer more to our veteran suppliers. That’s the whole goal.”
Redhead Apothecary
Where: 145 S. Van Buren St.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Closed Wednesday.
Phone: 812-720-7018
Website: RedheadApothecary.com
Email: [email protected]
