About Us
First of all lets look at the amazing story of how Yankee Candle® started.
Information from Yankee Candle®
It all started in December 1969. I was sixteen, and had a big problem; just days remained before Christmas, and I was broke. While considering my options for Mom's gift, inspiration struck. I gathered my childhood crayons and found an empty quart milk container. I melted them in a pot on the kitchen stove, poured the hot liquid into the carton and added a wick "borrowed" from a candle in our dining room. The broken bits of wax from that ill-fated dinner candle went into the milk carton as well. Several hours later, my first candle sat proudly on the kitchen table.
A visiting neighbor admired it and asked me, (to my astonishment), if I d sell it to her. I did for $1.36, and instantly spent the proceeds on a box of proper paraffin at the local grocer's. Thus armed, I made two more milk-carton candles, sold one and gave one to my Mom for Christmas. Again I reinvested my profits in more wax. Friends and neighbors enjoyed my simple candles and continued to purchase them as swiftly as my family could drink quarts of milk and orange juice!
By 1973 my hobby had turned into a one-man business. Blocks of wax and boxes of finished candles nearly filled my parents cellar and garage. At their not-so-gentle urging I moved my operation into a former paper mill in nearby Holyoke, Massachusetts. For the next year or so, I worked alone. I would pour candles in the morning, then change into my sales clothes for an afternoon of sales calls on gift shops. That night would often see me finishing and wrapping the morning's production.
Eventually I could afford to hire help, and by 1982 the Yankee Candle Company employed over thirty workers. We occupied all three floors of the mill and had no room to grow. Our first-floor retail store was catching on, but the inner-city location made it difficult for customers to find us. It was time to seek greener pastures.
In August 1983 we broke ground in rural South Deerfield, Massachusetts, twenty miles to the north. Our new 1,600 square foot factory store opened in November, with our factory slated for startup three months later. Worries about moving to the country were quickly put to rest, our ten-space retail parking lot overflowed with customers on our first day! And to think, it all started with a gift for my Mom . . .
What a great way to start a company, not sure if our story is so dynamic but this how we started:-
The Birth of CandleWick House
Hi my name is Alison and having two children and a career as a midwife life was never dull. Running from place to place one footy or judo club to friends sleep overs etc. So when it came to sitting down of an evening I just wanted to relax and have a bit of me time for 5 minutes. I found Yankee Candle by chance one day whilst shopping. I thought I would just try one as they smelt so nice. That was ten years ago, from that moment on I was a fan burning different fragrances in all the rooms. I had a strawberry room, Christmas cookie room, clean cotton in the bedroom as the sheets smelt fresh every day and the list went on.
Several years later we decided we needed a change of lifestyle and moved to Australia. Everything was going great (by the way it wasn't that easy) apart from I couldn't find my Yankee Candle® anywhere, I tried other makes but was unhappy with the results. This sparked me to research how I could import Yankee Candle®. Well after many sleepless nights dealing with banks. customs, shipping companies and real estates CandleWick House opened the doors on the 27th February 2009.
We are a close family and all have a part to play with the running of the shop, as we are not a franchise all of the designs, artwork and layouts have been carefully created by us. Myself and our Daughter work in the shop. My Husband and Son help out with the behind the scenes work and of course waiter on our special open evenings.
Finally I had my Yankee Candle® back and whats even better I can share them with everyone. We have already built up a loyal following and every so often we open the shop up at night and invite all our regulars for a night of free nibbles and wine.
We believe we are the largest stockist of Yankee Candle® in Australia and it is very important to us that we can give every candle lover (or candle freak as we call ourselves) the opportunity to try Yankee Candle® products so this is why we have created this web experience so we can now share our products with you where ever you may live.
