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1820 House made it with its product, packaging and persistence
By Kalea Hall
EAST PALESTINE
Melissa Smith didn’t go to school for candle making.
She also didn’t go to school for business.
But she’s hand-pouring 150 to 200 candles every day to stock the shelves at her business, 1820 House Candle Co. and the shelves of more than 40 stores that carry her candles, which now includes the major retailer Anthropologie.
“I’m a creative person,” Smith said. “This was a great outlet for me. I didn’t have the formal business background. I learned that through the school of hard knocks.”
Smith is proof that with the on-point product, the package and persistence, the opportunities for small businesses are out there.
In the back of her shop at 135 N. Market St., her candles take shape. Fifty pounds of natural wax flakes packed tightly inside a brown box are scooped into a melting tank. Pots collect the unscented and melted wax once it reaches the right temperature. As the wax cools, Smith and her workers prepare the fragrances. Jars are lined up on a small table that is becoming too small for the operation now, Smith admits.
“We are hoping our next step is a production space out at our farm,” Smith said.
The farm is where this business venture began.
It was 2004 and Smith was in her 1820 farmhouse that her great-grandparents owned when she decided to start making candles. She sold 18th-century antiques out of the home and online. The candles were just an addition to the antiques for people to buy. When the recession hit, Smith noticed that the candles kept selling.
“I decided to go in that direction,” she said.
Her candle making came with a lot of trial and error. She learned how certain waxes and certain wicks work together – and how some don’t. She wanted to make sure she used soy- and vegetable-based wax.
She went through hundreds of samples of fragrances to find the ones she liked for her brand. She uses pre-mixed fragrances and mixes of her own to get unique scents.
“It requires a lot of testing,” she said.
From inside her shop surrounded by the dozens of scents she’s created, Smith can still recall that first scent she wanted to create for her own home. It was that homey scent that would make anyone with a nose want to curl up with a blanket and a book.
“We called it Keeping Room,” she said.
Today, that scent is in the 1820 Signature Collection, but now it’s called Cinnamon Leaf and Allspice.
Other scents in this collection include Bourbon and Apple, London Lemon Cupcake and Lime and Coconut.
The product was ready, but to get the sales, Smith had to have the whole package.
She reached out to the Salem-based Sourballpython branding agency to get some solid branding for her candles.
“She knows the value of [using] packaging to bring people over to those candles,” said Kristina Danklef, founder, lead creator and web developer at Sourballpython.
Smith had the ideas there for her branding, Danklef just helped make the intriguing, yet clean designs come to life.
“It’s not like the packaging overshadows the product; it helps to give a sophisticated feel,” Danklef said.
The original collection came out in 2009, the same year that Smith decided to open her brick and mortar shop in her hometown.
Her next collection, Reclaim, brought out aromas of the environment with scents such as Sandalwood and Cardamom, Tobacco and Black Honey and Sea Salt and Water Mint.
“We wanted it to be very earth friendly,” she said.
Then came the time for the hustle.
During the first year with a storefront, Smith gained more interest locally and expanded her reach in other parts of the country by traveling to different shows.
At that point, she hadn’t even thought about pitching her product to sell in boutiques and other shops.
Then a Chicago-based boutique asked her if it could carry her candles. The boutique featured her candles on a blog and soon, 1820 House started to become a must-have for local and national shops. Her candles can now be found in many boutiques in states as far as Oregon.
In 2010, Smith came up with another line called B.Elixirs with uplifting, energizing, relaxing and comforting aromatherapy scents such as Blue Sage Lavender and Mint, Crushed Basil and Woodsmoke.
“It has really unique fragrance combinations,” Smith said.
Smith’s Rust Belt Collective, established in 2013, connected to the region where it came to be.
“Each scent has a story line,” Smith said. “It’s done really well because it has a cool aesthetic to it.”
There’s Nineteen Sixty Nine, which celebrates the birth of the candle maker, steel mills in Youngstown, thriving factories, challenges of the burning river and Led Zeppelin – Smith’s favorite – with a blend of patchouli, cedar leaf and peppermint.
Her newest Holiday Collection of candles offers seasonal aromas of field, forest and fireside with scents like Cranberry and Cassia, Fir and Grapefruit and Smoked Ash and Myrrh.
Candles connect people, they believe at 1820 House. They connect people to memories and comfort them. They also enhance the mood.
“We think candles not only look magical, but create an atmosphere to match,” Smith said.
The 1820 House shop is filled with that magic. No wands or spells, just wicks and wax.
For more information, and for where to get 1820 House candles locally, visit 1820house.com.