Fox Chapel native opens Simple Sugars holiday pop-up shop

Bakery Square will be a little smoother this holiday season.

Simple Sugars, an all-natural handmade skincare product line specially formulated for sensitive skin, has opened a holiday pop-up shop through Dec. 22 in the East End shopping complex.

The products have previously been sold only through its website.

“I have always wanted to do a pop-up shop,” said founder and president Lani Lazzari at the grand opening earlier this month. “But I certainly wanted to find the correct space, and this is it. It is centrally located. I am so excited to see this happening.”

Lazzari, 25, a Fox Chapel native, started the company in December 2005 when she had trouble finding products that worked for her sensitive skin.

She started the company at age 11 by making products for herself and then giving them as Christmas gifts to family and friends.

“Everyone loved the first products I made and wanted more,” she says. “That was the beginning. My company has been growing ever since.”

The products are made at the O’Hara warehouse in RIDC Park.

The products cleanse and gently exfoliate and moisturize, so you never need lotion, Lazzari says. “We call it ‘GOING NO-LO.’ ”

Lazzari says her goals are to provide the best all-natural body, facial and foot scrubs available, to educate people about why they should avoid chemicals in their personal care products, and to grow the company to be a model of corporate environmental and social responsibility.

Lazzari says there will be some products that are only available at the pop-up shop. There will be product demonstrations and holiday specials for shoppers as well as custom gift sets. Holiday scents include pizzelle and fig.

Lazzari, who lives in Downtown Pittsburgh, says she is looking forward to the pop-up shop being part of Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30. She says she supports other Pittsburgh companies and is grateful for help from a local native.

In 2013, Lazzari was featured on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” where Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban, a businessman, entrepreneur and owner of the National Basketball Association Dallas Mavericks, invested $100,000 in Simple Sugars. That was the same year she added a men’s product line, which has become 25% of the business.

“We needed funding or we would not have been able to grow,” Lazzari says. “We are so grateful for the money from Mark Cuban. His investment means so much.”

Cuban is still involved, Lazzari says, and he helped her find this space. His funding definitely had an impact on the business, Lazzari says.

“I’m a huge fan,” Cuban says via email. “She has built a great business that is growing, profitable and impactful. And, of course, she sets an incredible entrepreneurial example for young entrepreneurs everywhere. I can’t say enough good things.”

Katy O’Donnell of the North Side recently stopped in the pop-up shop. She learned of the products on the “Shark Tank” episode.

“I have extremely sensitive skin,” O’Donnell says. “This is the only non-scented I can use.”

Lazzari says having the pop-up shop will allow her the opportunity to meet and talk with customers such as O’Donnell. The two chatted for a while at the grand opening.

“It will be fun to connect with people,” she says. “We have had great testimonials from customers about the products and I want to be able to thank them in person.”

Hours will be 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 22.

Details: facebook.com/simplesugars