East River Trading created a business from whole cloth in Alabama’s Wiregrass
Jennifer Donaldson, left, of East River Trading makes a piece of clothing for a customer. (Mark Sandlin / Alabama NewsCenter)
East River Trading Company, Dothan
The Maker: Jennifer Donaldson
When friends ask Jennifer Donaldson why she doesn’t own a television, she usually answers, “When would I have time to watch it?”
Instead of keeping up with the Kardashians, the co-founder and owner of the East River Trading Company spends most of her time designing custom made clothing, mixing and molding bars of all natural honey soaps, supporting other Alabama artists and basically doing everything around the unique shop and art gallery she runs in Dothan.
“I grew up here, and after high school went to Chicago to study fashion design,” Donaldson said during a brief break in her busy day. “I later moved to New York doing designing and alterations. There I met Greg Hopkins, the Trading Company’s co-founder, who made honey based soaps. We started making soaps and sharing them with friends.”
East River Trading Company is a tailor-made Alabama Maker in the Wiregrass from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Donaldson brought her soap making and fashion designing skills back to Alabama when she moved home to Dothan four years ago. Her father had recently purchased some property that had been the site of a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, and she started renovating the old officers’ quarters to use as a studio and store.
“My apartment in New York was on 59th Street near the East River, so I decided to name the business the East River Trading Company,” she said.
The Trading Company opened in December 2013, and Donaldson’s all-natural soaps, lotions and lip balms quickly attracted local attention, while word spread of her fashionable, but reasonably priced, clothing (about $80 for a custom made dress).
“My main focus now is on the clothing, but I still make four types of soaps because some of my regular customers complained they couldn’t live without it,” she said. “I make a patchouli with lavender seeds, and an Egyptian black soap with eucalyptus, but the most popular is still the tobacco- and leather-scented soap.”
While her soaps, lotions, and some clothing items are available in shops such as Dothan Nurseries in Dothan, Kress on Dexter in Montgomery and the Wild Root in Panama City Beach, Fla., Donaldson sells most of her dresses, tops, skirts, and children’s clothing on her website and in the store.
“That’s because the customer has a big hand in making each piece,” she said. “I let her pick out the fabric and help with the designing. I don’t use patterns; everything is cut once, draped, and then sewn.”
Donaldson recently started sharing her success with other artists by exhibiting their works at the Trading Company.
“I mainly have pieces made by Alabama crafts people and one artist from New Mexico who makes these amazing leather goods,” she said.
Break over, Donaldson gets back to work. “I stay pretty busy, making clothing in the day and soaps at night, so right now I don’t have a lot of free time,” she said. “Guess I’ll have to wait before I get that TV.”
The Product: All natural soaps, lotions and balms, as well as custom made clothing.
Take Home: A bar of tobacco and leather scented soap ($8).
East River Trading Company
1369 Headland Avenue, Dothan AL 36303
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
334-714-3674
