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Local candles visit Oscars
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Becki Olejnik and her father, Richard Conti, are part owners of Sydney Candle Co. in Cortland. Initially, Olejnik and her family made candles in a basement “with goggles and a Bunson burner.” Conti was retired and would do the testing and formulating of the wax.
By REBECCA NIEMINEN SLOAN
CORTLAND
Eight years ago, the owners of Sydney Candle Co. in Cortland were making candles in a slow cooker in the basement.
Today, they’re manufacturing 55 varieties, selling in 19 states, and their candles have been selected for inclusion in gift bags distributed to celebrities at the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
Becki Olejnik, who owns Sydney Candle Co. along with her husband, Anatole, and her parents, Richard and Jeanne Conti, said she was more than a little surprised when she received the email pertaining to the 2012 Golden Globes and Oscars.
“I received an email from Secret Room Events in Santa Monica, Calif., telling us they wanted our wine-scented line for the Golden Globes and our vanilla-scented line for the Oscars,” said Olejnik. “Secret Room Events is owned by Rita Branch and Amy Boatwright. They research products they want to include in the gift bags, including candles. They discovered our candles on the Internet and were impressed with them.”
Sydney Candle Co., 161 W. Main St., specializes in handcrafted soy candles sold in pint and half-pint jars.
The candles are 100 percent soy wax, aromatic, long-lasting, environmentally safe, toxin-free and clean burning, the owners say.
“We don’t use any type of paraffin wax and strongly believe soy-wax offers many benefits over traditional paraffin candles and soy-wax blends,” Olejnik said. “It burns at a lower, cooler temperature, which allows the candle to last longer, and the fragrance is better distributed.”
The company’s pint jars burn for about 90 hours, and the half-pint jars burn for about 45 hours. They range in price from $11.99 to $12.99 for a small jar and $14.99 to $16.99 for a large jar. Various local retailers sell the candles, including Kraynak’s in Hermitage, Pa., Whitehouse Fruit Farm in Canfield and Gorant Candies in Howland.
The candles also can be purchased online at www.sydneycandle.com
Olejnik said she always enjoyed candles, but she was never someone who spent a lot of time doing crafts.
“I actually went to school for nursing and was never a ‘crafty’ person, but I have always been interested in business. My family and I have always been very business-minded, and this all started after we bought some candles wholesale and then resold them at craft shows,” she said. “We decided we could make our own candles for less money and sell them at a better rate, and that we could make a better product. We started researching and came across soy wax, which had just hit the market, and we started formulating with it.”
Olejnik jokes that she and her family formulated in the basement “with goggles and a Bunson burner.”
“My dad was most active in it – he was retired and had the most time to experiment. I would choose the fragrances, and he would do the testing and formulating of the wax,” Olejnik said. “Our first accounts were with Tira Mia Salon in Howland and Whitehouse Fruit Farm.”
Today Sydney Candle employs eight people (this number includes Olejnik and her father), and Olejnik said the business has grown steadily every year.
“When we started this business, we were going to do it right,” she said. “We conduct ourselves in an honest, honorable manner and strive to provide a quality, clean-burning candle that lasts long and smells great.”
The company’s latest line is called Pure and features candles ideal for spa settings, including fragrances such as Willow Blossom, Savannah Moss and Balsam, Summer Sage, Cedar and Saffron and Japanese Cherry Blossom.
Sydney Candle Co. was named after Olejnik’s daughter, Sydney, who is now 16. She and her husband have two other children.
Olejnik, who now lives in Cortland, originally is from Liberty. Her parents still live in Liberty.
For more information about Sydney Candle Co., visit the website or call 330-638-2336.