Cindy's Soap Cottage Closes Its Doors In East Windsor Retail Center

EAST WINDSOR, CT — Despite the best efforts of several relatives to keep an East Windsor retail business operating following the tragic death of its owner, Cindy's Soap Cottage has closed its doors in Pasco Commons.

In addition to a wide variety of handmade artisan soaps, the shop also sold candles, linens, bath and shower products, perfume, oils, scrubs, lotions and CBD topicals and tinctures. The final day of operation was Sunday, according to family member Anne Palmer.

"Sad day today," Palmer wrote on social media. "We tried our best to keep it open but the current economy did not help. This was definitely a labor of love in Cindy's memory."

Cindy Liquori of Suffield opened her shop in April 2015 at Waterside Village in Windsor Locks, then moved to the Route 5 location in East Windsor in April 2017. During the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, she adapted to the needs of customers, producing high-quality masks and hand sanitizer. She did not profit from the masks; she paid the people who sewed them nearly the entire retail sale price.

"I didn’t care about the money," she told Patch in early December 2020. "I just wanted to get them out to the public, and I just wanted to ensure that I broke even."

Less than two weeks after that interview, on Christmas 2020, Liquori, 55, was shot to death inside her mother's Windsor Locks home. Her husband, John Liquori, 59, was also found dead of a gunshot wound in an apparent murder-suicide, according to police.

Liquori's brother, David Palmer, wrote last week, "This store was her dream and her passion. When the tragic events of December 2020 happened, we were not sure as to what to do about the store. The decision was made in March of 2021 to carry on her legacy and reopen the store. The family rose to the occasion and put a lot of love and hard labor into the store, without taking any compensation. Last holiday season, starting in November, we started to notice a huge drop in business, which has continued into the current year. We understand that the current economic environment probably has a lot to do with this. We have done everything we could to maintain our prices, but with the rising cost of goods and shipping costs, we realized that we could no longer continue to put our personal funds in to keep the store open."

David Palmer indicated family members "have plans on reopening a store in the future in a better place and time."