Wicked Good Couple leaves California to start candle company in Mattawamkeag

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Working in the medical device and information fields of California’s fast-paced Silicon Valley, Claudia and Daryl Kessler hadn’t planned for a career in candle making.

But in the past three years the couple has taken a hobby and helped it wax into EarthLight Candles on Route 2 in Mattawamkeag, a seven-day-a-week operation that can have the couple producing thousands of votives and hundreds of column candles in a given week. Supported mainly by high-class markets in Japan, the company works with 20 nature-inspired scents, such as birch, eucalyptus and maple.

The scents, however, aren’t the focus of the couple’s work, Claudia said. While large candle producers have guided the market toward scent, the couple is working to cultivate an appreciation for the natural beauty of candles, she said.

“We want to make candles a work of art; to make them stand out,” Claudia said.

A candle’s texture and generation of light contribute to the couple’s philosophy that candles have more potential than their common role of freshening bathrooms.

“Our goal is to elevate candles from a mere decorating accessory to a bona fide design element around which a living space could be designed,” Daryl said.

With a modest beginning in the couple’s California kitchen in 2000, Earth-Light Candles took shape after Daryl spent a weekend crafting a Web site to support the hobby. The Kesslers received sparse retail inquiries, but soon found themselves inundated by wholesalers wanting in on the mold-formed, handmade candles.

“There we were with a few pots and a few molds, scratching our heads and asking, ‘what are we going to do now?,'” Daryl Kessler said recently.

In order to fill orders from all over the country, the Kesslers often finished their day jobs only to come home and work into the night and all weekend fashioning candles. After a year of increasing their business, the couple chose to make candles full time. A larger transition was still to come.

In need of a more affordable location for the business, the Kesslers considered moving to a less hectic region closer to wilderness. Minnesota and Maine were at the top of the list. In the summer of 2001, the Kesslers bought the former ‘Keag Market restaurant on Route 2 in Mattawamkeag and relocated the business there without ever having set foot in the state. The couple made the purchase and the 3,000-mile trip from San Jose based on still photographs of the building and a home video made by a local photographer.

“We knew there were a lot of risks involved,” Daryl said. “It seemed like a crazy idea and we were just motivated to do it.”

Finding a market

When the Kesslers were preparing to leave San Jose in 2001, the candle industry was strong, buyers were prevalent and the outlook seemed positive. Arriving in Maine only days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the couple nearly saw their dream ruined. Within a month, many of the company’s retailers had halted their orders, sending the couple’s sales well below the levels they had projected.

“They were in a state of panic,” Daryl said. “That holiday season was the first sign this wasn’t going to be an easy transition.”

The Christmas season was “rock bottom” as Daryl put it, and many of the retailers went out of business.

Fortunately, they sparked a relationship with a Japanese couple around the same time. Steadily, the Japanese market for EarthLight Candles grew into a nationwide distributorship and even led to the products being sold in the country’s upscale department store, Daimaru, similar to the well-known Harrods of London.

Last month, the company filled a Japanese order for 1,700 pounds of candles, which carried an American retail value of between $5,000 and $10,000, Daryl said. A typical wholesale order within the country might be between $200 and $500, he said.

It has been the couple’s experience that Japanese consumers have a deeper appreciation of craftsmanship and quality, where American retailers often focus more on price. The Japanese distributors have made annual weeklong trips to Mattawamkeag and the Kesslers have been reassured by the Japanese customer of a permanent business relationship, Daryl said.

“When they shake hands, that’s it for life,” Daryl said. “It’s something you can count on.”

Domestic sales have been more difficult but have shown signs of improving during the last few months, Daryl said. EarthLight Candles distributes through hundreds of retailers throughout the country and nine within the state, including Bangor, Lincoln, Millinocket and a half-dozen along the coast.

The need for innovation

While the couple keeps most of its candle-making secrets closely guarded, the basic process involves adding scented pieces to their 9-inch column molds and 2-inch votive molds. After filling the mold with more wax, the result is a dynamic texture like vibrantly colored layers of rock.

“We try to make each candle as consistent as its brother or sister without compromising its individuality,” Claudia said.

Individuality took on new meaning for the business as the couple moved into new frontiers to diversify their product line.

With 10 years’ experience as a machinist, Daryl took a chance with turning candles on a wood lathe. Unsure of whether the candles would melt or fall apart while being spun at high speeds, Daryl watched as the wax columns took on flowing mounds and curves under the pressure of a chisel.

After a little practice, Daryl was able to shape the candles into the chalices, fountains and beveled pillars that would become the company’s unique line of wedding unity candles. Paired with the company’s ability to match a wedding’s color schemes, the unity candles have gained popularity in this country and abroad.

The company soon realized the potential of its hand-wrapped candles, which involves forming a warm thin wax sheet around a normal column candle. The wax wrapping resembles a floral collar and looks like frosted glass when it burns.

“You have to be willing to try lots of new things and be willing to fail at most of them,” Daryl said. “It’s that 1 percent that’s going to make a difference.”

Over the last three years, the company’s retail and wedding centerpiece lines have garnered the attention of housewares mogul Martha Stewart and Jacob Maarse Florists, the Pasadena, Calif., company that provides flowers for the annual Tournament of Roses. The candles even made their way into a Victoria’s Secret Christmas party, although Daryl did not.

Adapting to Maine

Lower real estate costs may have been the impetus for the move, but the actual benefits of relocating to Maine have been countless since the Kesslers left the California grind. The former restaurant provided bun racks and immense open counter spaces, both of which have come in handy for making candles, Daryl said. The Kesslers’ previous hour-long, 20-mile commute has been shortened to 20 steps downstairs from the couple’s apartment above the business.

Running a business in Maine also has meant a few higher expenses, Daryl said, not the least of which is the cost of electricity. But the area’s natural beauty and local hospitality have helped offset the downsides, Daryl said.

On a busy day about six weeks after the company opened shop, Daryl received a phone call from then-Gov. Angus King. Daryl listened politely for about 10 minutes as King welcomed him to the state and asked a number of questions. Not yet versed in local politics, Daryl began to think King was a salesman and finally asked who he was.

“I remember there being a wee bit of a pause and then he said, ‘I’m the governor, Daryl,'” Kessler recalled, chuckling about the call.

Daryl quickly backtracked and apologized, but the call had served its purpose in leaving a lasting impact on him.

“That was unprecedented in other states, to receive a welcoming call from the governor,” Daryl said. “That made us feel good.”

For information about EarthLight Candles, call 736-6040 or visit the company on the Web at www.earthlight candles.com.