Candle company specializes in handmade selection
A growing candle business recently moved from Wheeling to Lake Zurich.
Heaventree Factory Co., specializing in handmade pillar candles, recently expanded its manufacturing facility to 330 E. Route 22. An outlet store also operates at the facility, which once housed a different candle company with different owners.
Dennis Clarkson and Richard Forier own and operate the business, which has seen tough competition in the industry over the years. The texture of their candle is the main aspect that separates Heaventree from the rest.
"Our texture is unique," Clarkson said. He added that they utilize a molding process that allows logos, butterflies, swirls or other designs to mold onto the candle.
"We don't use any machinery. All our candles are hand poured," Clarkson said.
The company also stirs the candles once they have been poured, which prevents air pockets in the wax. Some container candles as well other selections and sprays are part of the selection as well.
Heaventree makes candles for many national retailers. Z Gallery, Jo-Ann's, Home Depot Expo and Stein Mart are some stores that carry their candles. Bed Bath & Beyond is now testing their selection in about 25 stores.
"We try to provide a little more fashion with our candles," said Clarkson, who handles the production and production development aspect of the company. He added that they have accounts with Neiman Marcus and Sak's Fifth Avenue.
The Lake Zurich business makes between 2,500 and 3,000 candles a day. Between 5,000 and 6,000 are produced during peak periods.
Clarkson and his wife, Franny, who once owned their own restaurant, started looking into the industry when scented candles started growing in popularity in the mid-1990s.
"But we wanted something different to give ourselves a chance to survive," Clarkson said.
He and his wife, residents of Evanston, started testing colors and scents in their kitchen before launching their first manufacturing facility at 500 Glenn Ave. in Wheeling during the summer of 1997.
Forier, a resident of Barrington, joined the company about three years ago. He handles sales, marketing and retail aspects of the company, which employs 26. Forier continues to work as a representative in the craft industry as well.
Over the years, the company has added various products, including the popular Fresh Home line that takes odors out of a room. "This is designed to neutralize," Clarkson said, adding that it's great with cigarette smoke and cooking odors. A box of three glass votives sells for about $13.50. The line also comes in tins, room sprays and three-wick candles.
The owners said the reed diffuser is becoming a popular item in the industry. Heaventree sells a glass diffuser for about $22. The diffuser does not use heat, wax or flames. Instead, bamboo sticks are stuck into a bottle of oil. The fragrance then lingers through the room.
"This is becoming a monster item," Forier said.
As far as candles, the most popular fragrance seller at the 12-year-old company is orange clove, Clarkson said. Vanilla and papaya mango tie for second.
The owners say they have cleaned up the outlet store, which is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and occasionally on Saturdays.
For more information, check out heaventreecandles.com.