So, here we are as we creep slowly into 2014 and we celebrate our 20th Year in business!  How many companies survive the first couple years, let alone keep moving forward 20 years later?

Let’s take a look back at when/why/where it all started, shall we?

1004-2014

The year was 1993 and our Twins (Michael and Christina) were only 2 years old and scurrying around at our feet.  We had always enjoyed the candles we would buy from that “big name candle company” but money was tight as we started our family and were also working on remodeling our home — so, I thought “how hard  could it be to make a candle?”.

That process took many, many month’s of trial and error until I found and perfected a recipe that we really liked.  Now mind you, NOBODY taught me how to do this, there was nobody saying “oh, here’s how we make our candles, here’s our recipe”…I had to troll the internet (which was NOT what it is today in 2014!) to try and discover anything about how to make a candle.  After about 8 months, and many “scrap” failures, we had a finished product.  I then pitched it to 4 local stores who placed an order that covered our expenses should they never reorder another candle.  I could either break even on my $500 investment…or…maybe, just maybe we had a future in the candle industry.  We wouldn’t know for months.

Success!  Yup, those stores did reorder and the “Adirondack Candle Company” was officially born in 1994.    We also started selling to friends and family, continuing to make one candle at a time in our little kitchen, on our little stove.

Fast forward 20 years to 2014.  After 20 years we made the decision in 2013 to move our manufacturing facility out of the basement of our home and into a new production/retail location 3 miles from our home in the little town of Ballston Lake.  2014 has seen us continue to grow with our candles in over 50 stores throughout the Adirondack Region and other local retail establishments, online sales with our candle website (www.AdirondackCandle.com), and our own retail shop in the front end of our Ballston Lake facility.

It’s not always been easy, but anything worth having is worth working hard for.  It’s something we’ve always taught our kids as they’ve grown into beautiful young hardworking young people we’re so very proud of.

2014 see’s us introducing some NEW scents (Grassy Meadows, Adirondack Trail, Harvest, and Pines of Saratoga) and more exciting things yet to come.  It’s been a fantastic ride, it’s been a very cool learning experiience.  How many people get to “follow their dreams” of taking an idea, creating a “brand”, building an idea into a product that ultimately brings so many people together to enjoy a simple candle that was created with a dream in the kitchen of a young couple with toddlers at their feet?

Thank you ALL for believing in us, allowing us to grow, and keeping us in business.  We could NOT have done it without you and your endless support.  But, we’re NOT done yet!!!  We still need you to tell the world that we’re still around after 20 years and there’s more yet to come, but we need you to share us with the world and keep our journey going.  Will you help us?  Thank you…thank you….THANK YOU!

Lane and Cathy Pelletier,   -your Adirondack Guides