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Aromalight Candle Co., Inc. is a family owned corporation located in Louisville, KY. The owners are Kim and Tim Wooten. The following story will give you a little bit of background info about the company and the candles that you see here on AromalightCandles.com In 1995, Tim and Kim started making candles as Christmas gifts. They wanted to make the very best candles possible so they ordered the finest and most expensive wax and candlemaking ingredients they could find. After a few months of trial and error, they came up with a triple scented formula that they thought would separate their candles from all other candles. Initially, candlemaking remained just a hobby, but it was not long before their friends and family members began asking for more candles, so they decided to start making them on a regular basis. One day, a friend suggested that they start selling the candles at a booth at one of the local arts & crafts shows. She told them that their candles were so wonderful that people would line up to buy them. It sounded like a good way to earn a few extra dollars, so they agreed. Not knowing how many candles to make for a show, Tim and Kim decided to make 150 candles to be sure that they had enough. Since they put so much time and effort into each and every candle, it took them over two weeks to make enough candles for their first show. When the time came, they were ready to go. This being their first business venture, they were excited at the thought of people actually buying something that they had created in their kitchen. The craft show was being held in a school gymnasium, and when they arrived, they could not believe how many people were there. There must have been 200 other vendors setting up booths in the gym. While setting up their table, they started talking with the lady in the booth next to theirs. She was selling little handmade dolls and blankets, and told Kim and Tim that since this was always the first crafts show of the season, it was her best moneymaker every year. Now they were really excited, so they set everything up and sat down waiting for the crowd to come. The crowd came alright, but only about 30 people bought their candles. After all of that hard work, they only ended up making about $15 more than they had paid for the booth rental. When the time came to pack up and leave, Tim and Kim told the lady next to them that they would not be doing any more shows, because no one seemed to want to buy their candles. For some reason, that lady insisted they not give up until they had given the candles a second chance. She assured them that things would get better. They spoke with the show coordinator and managed to rent another booth in a show two weeks later. This is when they learned just how wonderful their candles actually were. While they were setting up their booth, another lady came up to them and told them that she was a vendor in the last show they were in, and that she had purchased two of their candles. This lady told Tim and Kim that those two candles were the absolute best candles she had ever purchased, and she was going to tell everyone that came to her booth to come over and buy one. A few minutes later, a customer came walking up to the booth with the biggest smile on her face. She told them that she was at their first show, and she had bought one of the candles. The lady told them that she had been buying candles her entire life, and that not one of them had ever come close to being as wonderful as theirs. She told of how that one little cinnamon candle made her whole house smell like cinnamon sticks! This lady made such a big deal about the candles, that people started gathering around the booth to see what all the commotion was. Then, out of pure curiosity, people started buying their candles like they were peanuts at a circus. Before they knew it, Tim and Kim had sold all of their candles. The show coordinator noticed the amount of people buying the candles. She asked Tim and Kim if they would consider renting a booth at other shows, and they did. From that moment on, people were constantly coming up to Tim and Kim praising the candles they made. After three or four more shows passed, some people would actually come to the shows, buy a case of candles, and leave. Tim and Kim printed up simple business cards on their computer and started handing them out to everyone that bought a candle. Before they knew it, they were making more money selling candles out of their home than they were at their full time jobs. Tim quit his job in the engineering field to start making candles full time. Eventually, the word of mouth advertising about these wonderful candles spread to the point where Kim could quit her position as a Speech Pathologist to help keep the candle business going. Beginning in 1998, Tim and Kim started selling Aromalight candles through school fundraisers to help youth groups earn extra funds for their activities. Eventually, the business became so successful that they could actually afford to hire people to help make and label the candles. Today, Aromalight Candle Co. sells candles nationwide through fundraisers. With each passing year, Aromalight's customer base has tripled, and starting in March of 2001, the company started wholesaling the candles to retail outlets nationwide. Eventually, Aromalight could end up being one of the best selling candle brands in the country. It turned out that the lady in the booth next to them at that first show was right... Things would get better!
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© Copyright
2002, Aromalight
Candle Company, Inc. |
