Towne Centre Names Winner Of 6 Months Of Rent-Free Space

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — An up-and-upcoming soap and skincare businees was the winner of the Small Shop Showdown at Spotsylvania Towne Centre. The mall announced Monday morning that Lilly Bloom Soap, Body & Bath, a business owned by Margo Frazier of Spotsylvania Courthouse, will receive six months of free rent inside Spotsylvania Towne Centre, starting April 1.

In addition to the free use of store space, Frazier will receive a package of marketing assistance to help get the business off the ground, on-mall signage, a news release, digital signage and advertising on social media. Frazier competed with a variety of other local entrepreneurs who described their business concepts to a Shark Tank-style panel of real estate leasing experts.

Lilly Bloom Soap, Body & Bath is a business that creates artisan soaps, lotions, body scrubs, bath bombs and candles. Frazier began making her products three years ago, with packaging that she describes as "Whimsical, designed to make you smile." She began selling them at craft fairs and via social media.

"For our product, people need to smell it, feel it, touch it," Frazier explained Monday in statement. "Retail is really where we wanted to go. This contest was really a dream come true."

Lilly Bloom Soap, Body & Bath is a family effort. Frazier's daughter, Sierra Frazier, 22, and son, Dakota Frazier, 16, will be the owners of the store, while Margo concentrates on creating and supplying the products.

A few key spaces are available inside the mall. Lilly Bloom Soap, Body & Bath's will move into the space that best suits the store's needs, the mall said. The rent-free space inside Spotsylvania Towne Centre will from April 1 to Sept. 30. Frazier's store will be required to be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Choosing a winner of the competition was extremely difficult, the mall said, because the judges were impressed with all the candidates in Small Shop Showdown.

Spotsylvania Towne Centre, located at the junction of Interstate 95 and Route 3, near Fredericksburg, has 1.7 million square feet of space with more than 120 department stores, specialty shops, restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues. The mall is owned and managed as part of the Cafaro family of companies based in Niles, Ohio.