Local Soap Manufacturer Scrubbed From Brookfield Farmer's Market

BROOKFIELD, WI — A local soap manufacturing company that has done business at the Brookfield Farmer’s Market for 20 years has been scrubbed from the list of vendors after Glenn Culbertson and his wife, Sonia, were told that their business is nonessential and won’t be allowed to operate at the market this summer.

The move came as a shock to Glenn Culbertson, who said Wednesday that at a time when many of the events Sunrise Showers Soap appears at have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, he and his wife were counting on Brookfield Farmer’s Market to continue to serve a loyal customer base that must now find other ways to purchase Sunrise Showers products.

Now as the summer is about to go into full swing, Culbertson says he doesn’t have many answers despite repeated email exchanges with Bobbi Harvey, the market’s manager, and doesn’t expect the issue to be resolved anytime soon.

“It’s very irritating, very frustrating and at the last minute,” Culbertson told Patch on Wednesday. “It’s not like (Harvey) told us a year ago she didn’t want soap there or anything. … It just did not make any sense. It stunk. Something wasn’t right there.”

In an email sent to the Culbertson’s on May 2, Harvey indicated even though the market would be opening later in the month, certain items had been deemed nonessential and that soap was one of them. She indicated that once restrictions changed, she would inform the couple, who paid a $50 late fee to complete their payment for the summer.

But even after paying in full, Culbertson did not find space for Sunrise Showers’ booth although other non-food items, including a knife sharpener, cut flower booth and another soap maker had been included in the Farmer’s Market lineup. After pointing out the presence of other non-food booths, the Culbertson’s sent Harvey a sixth email stating that Gov. Tony Evers had deemed personal hygiene manufactures essential and that such businesses had the right to operate as long as they followed recommended safety policies.

Harvey replied with an email saying that the governor’s directive “has no bearing on soap being sold at farmer’s markets” and that while other vendors she had suspended from the market “understood and accepted” her decisions, the Culbertson’s were choosing to argue with and question her decisions.

An email sent Wednesday to Harvey seeking comment on the situation was not immediately returned.

The whole matter has not set well with the Culbertson’s who have posted the stream of email exchanges with Harvey on the company’s Facebook page. The posts have generated nearly 28,000 views and hundreds of comments.

Sunrise Showers continues to do business online and on a wholesale basis after 18 years of operating a store in Delafield. But with other farmer’s markets on hold and as a final decision of whether the Wisconsin State Fair will be held is expected this week, the Culbertson’s said that their business has definitely been impacted, which made their longstanding relationship with the Brookfield Farmer’s Market so vital.

Culbertson said Wednesday that he and his wife hold no ill feelings toward the market or other vendors or the customers who have asked why they are not operating their booth in the location they have occupied for so many years. Given the lack of progress they have made in ongoing email conversations with Harvey, Culbertson said they see no resolution the matter coming this summer.

“We’re definitely hurting by not being there,” said Culbertson, who said he feels hurt by the fact that his business was kicked out of the market despite their efforts continue their run. “But we’re trying to compensate in other ways.

“But (the market) is the only event that’s currently going on that we do. So we were kind of depending on it.”