Apotheke is a real Red Hook soap opera, by Brian Abate

There is a long row of warehouses at the end of Brunt St., and among those warehouses (459 Van Brunt St.) is Apotheke’s flagship store. Walking in, customers are greeted with incredible fragrances and beautiful designs. The store which is big but inviting is the result of years of dedication and hard work from Apotheke’s founder and CEO, Chrissy Fichtl.

“Back in 2010, I was really stressed out because I lost my job and the recession was going on,” Fichtl said. “My friend told me I needed a hobby and so one day I made these six little bars of soap. I gave one to my husband and he said that the soap made his skin feel really nice and I should keep up with this hobby so I just took it as a sign to go for it.”

However, Fichtl had a disappointing experience in the Hamptons in 2011 when she got a booth at a farmers market but her soap didn’t sell. It made her realize the importance of developing a brand so she committed to doing just that, and came up with the name Apotheke. She chose the name because a friend who owns a distillery of essential oils often sent her some of the essential oils and signed it, “to my little Brooklyn apothecary.” Apotheke is German for apothecary and it’s the name that Fichtl trademarked. She also came up with a logo.

“I put in an application at the Brooklyn Flea and thought it was a long shot that they would accept my application but the next day they got back to me and said they were looking for someone to sell beauty products. It worked out perfectly. I went there with my little soap box with about 100 bars of soap and I sold out in four hours. One of the things that I noticed is people really liked the story that I blended the oils myself and made the soap in my own kitchen.”

After a year, Fichtl started making candles at home too after lots of people asked her about them. There’s a science to it but after a while, she found the right formula. From there, she decided to start selling fragrances instead of only soap. Fichtl ended up getting a massive order from West Elm and as Apotheke grew, she had to move to a bigger space instead of continuing to work from home.

“I actually ended up getting a spot in Bed-Stuy from a man and his father who had a big factory making notebooks,” Fichtl said. “It just started with them just saying good morning to me and we got to talking and they ended up renting me a small space. It was about the size of three farmers market tents [about 350 square feet] and I gave them all of what I had left in my savings. I decided it was make or break time and ended up growing the business there for four years. From there, we moved to a bigger factory [about 2,000 square feet] on Coffey St.”

Fichtl also continued doing the Brooklyn Flea for a few more years and that along with her products being sold at West Elm, earned Apotheke more widespread recognition.

“I really believe in independent and Mom and Pop type stores because that’s just where you want to be. I loved hearing from friends that they saw my product in stores in different cities. We also started growing more online during the pandemic and we were outgrowing the other place. We needed something bigger. Greg O’Connell who was our landlord told us about this location and in 2021 Greg Jr. said, ‘This place is pretty big but I think you can pull it off and make it a retail store.’ As soon as I walked in and saw it, I knew it was the place for us even though it looked like it hadn’t been used for years and years.”

One of the unique aspects of Apotheke is that they do all of their own manufacturing.

“I think that we will always be the manufacturer and we always have been from when I started making soap in my own kitchen until now. We love to be able to control the quality and we also get to have a lot of fun because we are the makers. We can come up with our own creative ideas and put them into action. It’s also really nice to have more production on demand. For example, if we notice that we’re low on charcoal candles, we can just make them without having to rely on other companies. I also really love that we’re able to employ people and hire in the Red Hook community.”

Despite recent increases in the prices of materials used by Apotheke, the business is doing well and has clearly come a long way. A large part of that success stems from their dedication to the scientific aspect of the business, where products are tested both for the appeal of their fragrances as well as their safety.

“There’s a creative team and we also work with some major perfumers,” Fichtl said. “We get together about 12-18 months prior to a launch and we start talking about what our olfactory chart might be missing. We also look at what a customer might want. After that, we go out in the field, and see what other companies we admire are doing and see what companies we compete with are doing and what’s trending in perfume. For example, if rose perfume is trending, we’ll look at something floral and come up with four or five samples and see which direction to go in. Then we’ll repeat the process since we usually need to come up with four to six scents for a capsule collection.”

Despite Apotheke’s growth and success, including their creation of the signature scent for J.Crew, community is still at the core of what Fichtl does.

“I love working with Cora Dance, RHAP, and more, and we had a Christmas party here,” Fichtl said. “I want my kids to know about that aspect of business; it isn’t just about the money you make, it’s about who you’re surrounded with and giving back when you’re able to.

“One of my most special moments is when I first started Apotheke I was living paycheck to paycheck and I was broke. My daughter wanted to do ballet but the classes I looked up cost between $900 and $2,000 for a season. I was so bummed out that I couldn’t afford it and someone told me about Cora Dance right here in Red Hook. When I went there, they said ‘Pay what you can’ so I loaded them up with candles and soap and she was able to go there. After so many years, I had finally figured out what community was. It’s about giving what you can back to the community and the community giving back to you.”