Business heating up for candlemakers

Gray skies, chilly evenings and a myriad of colors lazily falling from trees. It could mean only one thing: Autumn has arrived.

For candlemakers Ransom and Sarah Storm of Coeur d’Alene, it also means their busy season is here.

“September through December is candle season,” says Ransom. And he should know. Ransom and his wife, both 25, are owners of Inland Candle Co. in downtown Coeur d’Alene, an up-and-coming business that has grown exponentially since it opened in July 2017.

Business for the Storms quadrupled during their second candle season in 2018, and things are already off to a hot start as their third holiday season gets underway.

The idea for Inland Candle came when the outdoor enthusiasts found themselves buying and burning candles that claimed to smell like the places they loved to explore, but which were manufactured either overseas or in cities far from the Pacific Northwest.

“Most of them simply missed the aroma mark,” Ransom said. “They seemed to lack authenticity, so we set out to build a brand around authenticity.”

At Coeur d’Alene’s only retail candlemaking outlet the Storm’s candles are poured by hand in small batches in their 400-square-foot Lakeside Avenue shop.

Each candle is made with all-natural soy wax derived from American-grown soybeans, cotton core wicks, blends of essential oils and premium grade fragrance oils, and poured in recycled glass containers for an eco-friendly, clean burn.

Many commercial candles are made with paraffin products, which are petroleum-based and can release toxic fumes, Ransom said. Soy candles burn cleaner, longer, and with a richer fragrance.

Adamant about accurately capturing authentic smells, the Storms use scents such as spruce, Fraser fir, and fresh pine needles with woodsy aromas of juniper berries and cedar to fill homes with invigorating smells.

Ransom said Inland Candle Co. products have a clean and earthy floral fragrance crafted with notes of citrus, sage, moss, and balsam with wild florals such as lavender, rose, and gardenia blossoms.

With a strong social media presence, Inland Candle Co. has customers across the country and sell their candles at several locally owned and operated businesses including CDA Clothing Co. in the Plaza Shops on Sherman Ave., Union Roasters Coffee in Midtown, and White Brick Interiors in Riverstone.

With a long line of scents to choose from Storm says the most popular candle is an unlikely combination: Tobacco and pine.

“It sounds weird, but that’s the one scent that has really taken off for us from the beginning,” Storm says. “It’s the only tobacco and pine candle I’m aware of and it’s consistently been our best seller.”

Currently the Storms make and market their candles with no outside help, but if their business continues to grow, they expect to add employees down the road.