Sales for the retailer, which describes itself as a do-it-yourself candle company, jumped 500% in 2020, prompting the firm to secure a much larger manufacturing facility and move its headquarters from Laguna Hills to Irvine.
“The candle industry as a whole was up about 30% last year, and we definitely saw that with our sales growth,” said Charlotte Katona, chief operations officer of Wooden Wick.
“We attribute part of that to people staying home and picking up new hobbies, such as making candles.”
The company, a maker and distributor of a wood wick, is among the largest of its kind in a region that’s home to countless other candle companies, from well-known Voluspa in Irvine to small boutique endeavors like Laguna Candles, a Laguna Beach-based firm profiled in last week’s print edition of the Business Journal.
2017 Expansion
Wooden Wick was launched in late 2015, selling just its core product: a wooden wick “that’s a more eco-friendly option that crackles like a fireplace when it burns,” Katona said.
After about two years of manufacturing wicks and selling them to businesses, the company noticed a greater demand for additional environmentally friendly candle products.
“Customers were looking for a more unique and sustainable approach to making candles, so we expanded in 2017,” Katona said. Expansion included an extensive line of candle-making materials, such as the company’s best-selling Date Night Candle Kit that retails for $45.95 and includes fragrance oil, wax, wick and other materials needed to make a candle at home.
“We’ve continually been adding new candle assortments and expanding into soap, diffusers, room sprays and body care,” Katona said.
Irvine HQ
Wooden Wick’s new base of operations is for a nearly 43,400-square-foot space at part of the former Toshiba U.S. headquarters at 9750 Irvine Blvd., in the city’s Spectrum submarket.
The space will hold the company’s manufacturing and administrative facilities, as well as a showroom that will open at a later date pending COVID-19 restrictions, Katona notes.
The new headquarters replaces the company’s current 7,500-square-foot base in Laguna Hills, marking a physical expansion that’s roughly equivalent with the company’s sales gains last year.
“We were running about 24 hours a day at our previous location in order to maximize our capabilities there,” Katona said. “We are now fully moved into our new space and we’re excited to open a showroom this year where we can eventually hold in-person events.”
A bulk of the company’s sales come from its website, with strong e-commerce trends aiding in Wooden Wick’s 2020 sales boost.
The company employs about 60, and may look to hire should it open additional retail stores or venues to hold maker workshops.
“It’s been a challenging year for everyone, so we feel very grateful to be in a growth position right now,” Katona said. “The new lease is a physical representation of all of the hard work our staff has put in over the past few years.”
