If there’s a time of year for candles, this is it. Between Hanukkah, Advent/Christmas Eve, and having the shortest daylight period of the year (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere), we collectively burn through a lot of wax. My family’s Christmas Eve tradition includes a candlelight church service and a lot of candles around the house, though we’re smart enough not to try the candles on the Christmas tree thing (we had a close enough call with a blanket that got too close to the fireplace one year on Christmas Eve). I can’t think of a bigger name in candles than Yankee Candle, so I thought we should take a look at the South Deerfield, MA based candle maker and retailer. The company actually got its start during the Christmas of 1969. Mike Kittredge couldn’t afford to buy his mother a Christmas gift, so he melted down some crayons to make a candle. A neighbor insisted that he sell the candle to her, and Mike used the money to buy enough wax for two candles–one for his mom and one to sell. The business kept growing from there.

Light a Candle

Yankee Candle is best known for its scented candles. As they say, their customers have a “passion for fragrance.” The candle business seems like it would be a good one. You take a relatively cheap raw material, and turn it into something much more valuable. The customer proceeds to burn the thing they just spent money on. They then buy another one, and another, and another–burning candles is habit forming. (Sidenote: my dad once told my mom that he would be able to retire 10 years earlier if she didn’t spend so much on curtains and candlesticks.) Anyway, Yankee Candle is the candle company in the U.S. They have more than 500 company-owned retail stores and a “wholesale customer network” of nearly 20,000 stores. Their reach is enormous. If you love candles, take a look at Yankee Candle’s Jobs page. They have a few opportunities well suited for new or recent grads including Public Relations Associate, Candlemaker, Customer Service Associate, Associate Product Development Manager – Home Accents. Check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• YankeeCandle.com
• Jobs at Yankee Candle
• About Yankee Candle
• Yankee Candle’s Story
• Yankee Candle News
• Yankee Candle Investor Information

Are candles part of your holiday traditions?

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