hydra's Shower Burst project
One of the best smelling businesses in Lexington is a recent transplant from San Francisco. The manufacturing business called hydra has been open for three months but recently had a public unveiling.
Think of hydra as an “everyday aromatherapy company,” co-owner and general manager William Kyle told a crowd at the news conference and plant tour. The micro-plant is located on Regency Drive in Lexington.
Kyle said aromatherapy uses plant essences that offer subtle and real benefits to the user. “Our vision is for people to use aromatherapy every day.” The products are manufactured by hand using essences and special powders in the small plant. Ten new jobs were created when the doors opened. Kyle hopes to add another 10 in the next two years.
“We’ve come a long way from our beginnings as a soap shop on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, all the way here to the Bluegrass,” Kyle said.
The company’s best-selling product is called Shower Burst. It represents about 70 percent of company sales. It consists of tablets placed in the shower that are activated by steam. The company hydra also produces other bath and body products, one of them contained in a teabag-type pouch that is dropped into a bath for a relaxing, scented experience.
The products are sold to about 2,000 independent retailers across the United States and in Australia and New Zealand. Some of the products are available locally at two spots — the Front Porch at Tates Creek Shopping Center and the Massage Center in Dudley Square near downtown. More local retailers could be added soon. Kyle said he likes to deal with “quirky retailers passionate about what they do and who can convey the message of our products through education and creative merchandising.”
Lexington Mayor Jim Gray reminded the crowd at the public unveiling that most of his professional career has been spent in his family’s business, which started small, and that he especially likes manufacturing companies.
“These jobs lead to other jobs,” he stated. “No matter the size of the company, each manufacturer needs a solution tailored to meet its individual needs, and we hope hydra has found that in Lexington.”
First established 12 years ago, hydra struggled in San Francisco’s retail environment for its first seven years before Kyle and business partner Dennis Coyle decided to make a change. The company closed its storefront and reduced its number of product offerings to a more manageable number and went wholesale. Since then, Kyle said the company has seen 20 percent annual growth in each of the last five years.
But to be even more successful and to cut costs, Kyle and Coyne figured they needed to move out of San Francisco to middle America. They also considered overseas and Mexico.
“We were looking for locations that could support small businesses and could provide low overhead,” Kyle said.
Kyle and his team traveled to Lexington last March to meet with Commerce Lexington and city officials and a real estate team. They met “over pints of amber” at West Sixth Brewery, a start-up success story that local officials hoped hydra would want to emulate.
“It came down to finding a city that was welcoming and excited to have you in town. That was clear with the first interaction we had with everyone here,” Kyle said. “We wanted a place where there are incentives and opportunities for small businesses to thrive and there is a dedicated and enthusiastic workforce and it’s easy and cost-effective to do business.”
Lexington apparently met the two owners’ criteria.
On a tour of the plant, Kyle described the place as “something between a bakery and an art studio.” The aromatherapy products are handcrafted and pressed into molds. They are then stored on bakery racks and air-dried. No oven or machinery is used in that process. Next, they go to a wrapping station where they are prepared for shipping to retailers.
“We try to have fun with our products as we are designing them,” Kyle said.
The company’s busiest season, which might surprise some, is in January and February. That’s when the company sets up at large wholesale trade shows where store operators come to shop with cash in their pockets from the recent holiday shopping season.