.png)
You can find candles in almost any store you enter. Do you ever think about where they come from, how they're produced, or what kind of ingredients they contain though? .
Sure, it's easy to pick up your favorite scent from Bath and Body Works or Target. But getting your candles from a small business has far more benefits for you and them. With Small Business Week coming up, we want to talk about seven reasons why you should shop small for your candles rather than going to a big box store.
7 Reasons to Shop Small Business Candles
1. Better Quality Products
You don’t know the ingredients that go into big box store candles. Their manufacturing processes are often secretive, and their quality control isn’t always the best. The resulting candles tend to be cheaply made and far too frequently flawed.
When you shop from a small business, you can guarantee they’ll use good ingredients to create a high-quality product. Without a corporation breathing down their necks, they can take their time to test and create new products. They showcase their creation process and ingredients online because they want you to know that your candles are made with care.
2. Healthier for You
You might try to eat healthily, wear natural fibers, and avoid chemical-laden skincare. But do you ever think about the candles you're burning in your home? Mass-produced candles often contain harmful products like paraffin wax, palm oil, and fragrances containing phthalates. All these harm your health and enter your body when you burn the candle.
Many small businesses often pride themselves on using only quality, natural ingredients to create non-toxic candles. Factors like wax and fragrance choices can make a big difference in your overall health and wellness. For example, we only use USA-grown plant soy wax and phthalate-free fragrances at Mountain City Candles for the cleanest candle possible.
3. More Sustainable
Big corporations don’t like to reveal their creation process. Unfortunately, this often means that they’re creating their products unethically. That could look like cutting corners during production, carelessly creating pollution, exploiting factory workers, and other unsustainable practices.
Small businesses dedicate a lot of time to choosing the most sustainable options for their products, from recyclable packaging to natural wicks. Rather than waste excess wax from each candle batch, they’ll make them into tea lights or other mini candles. If they work with a factory, they'll choose ones that pay their workers a living wage and have a safe working environment.
Mountain City Candles Soy Wax Flakes are made from USA grown soybeans
4. Support a Small Business
You probably can't name the CEO of Target or Walmart. To big box stores, you’re just another customer, another way to put cash in their pockets. They barely pay their factory workers while marking up their prices so they can have a better profit margin.
But to a small business, your purchase is everything. Shopping small allows you to support someone’s dream. It shows the business owner all their hard work is paying off. It also helps the local economy, keeping jobs and product production here in the USA. By supporting local businesses, you help create a strong community.
Mountain City Candles regularly gives back to our community. We sponsor youth soccer & baseball teams every spring & fall, and we make many charitable donations to local events and groups. We participate in fundraising with local schools & clubs and donate 35% of their sales back to the organizations.
5. More Personal
Large companies pay a lot of money to make your shopping experience with them feel personal. They use segmentation, SMS, and spokespersons to connect to you. But at the end of the day, their efforts are only a way to make you keep shopping with them.
When you shop with small businesses, however, your experience is personal. They’ll create, pack, and ship your unique, handmade product from their home to yours. You may even find little goodies in your order that big companies would never dream of sending. You can feel their personal touch in every product.
6. Unique Items
The candle aisle at any big store looks basically the same. The same type of container, boring label, and scents you can find anywhere else. Occasionally, you might find something unique, but they’re pretty predictable.
Since small businesses don’t have to worry about making enormous batches of candles, they can be more creative. You can find interesting fragrances, like Orange Dreamsicle or Apple Butter. They have fun candle containers, from glass jars to mugs. They can even produce uniquely shaped candles, like our Bleeding Skulls.
7. Great Customer Service
Who hasn’t had a bad experience with customer service at the store? Your order didn’t arrive, and you struggled to get a refund. You were met with rude employees who don’t care about their jobs. You couldn’t find the item you were looking for. We’ve all experienced things like this.
Most small businesses make outstanding customer service their priority. While they want your sales, they also care about you as a person. They want to build a relationship with you and keep you coming back. You can even make special requests from many small businesses, and they'll happily work with you.
Corbin is pouring his own candles for his teachers' Christmas gifts. As a family-owned business, we pride ourselves on our strong sense of tradition, dedication, and personalized service, ensuring that each customer feels like a valued member of our extended family.
Shopping small is never a bad idea. The next time you need a new candle, consider going online to find a small business candle company you can support.
Are you interested in buying from our small business? We’d love it if you checked out our vast array of candles and scents, all made with soy wax and zero additives, right here in the USA.
Post by Rachel Meyer
Main Blog photo by Vlada Karpovich
Welcome to the blog! Here, I’ll break down everything you need to know about candles. Expect straight talk and no-nonsense insights, all in one place. You'll discover in-depth information on various types of candles, why people love them, how to make them correctly, and the products we offer. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts. From one candle lover to another, I’d love to hear your feedback on what you read here.
Want to write a guest post for our blog?
In this blog, I'm going to tell you the truth about candles. There's a lot of misinformation out there, so it's important that we get this right.
All candles are not created equal, and you can't tell the difference between a great candle and a crappy candle just by smell or price. Big box store candles are typically mass-produced and even though they may say "soy" on the label, it doesn't mean that they are only soy.
You’ll find no-nonsense candle facts in this blog. I research first and then form my own opinions. I’ll tell you the simple truth always because I'm just a small-town girl running a small business, and the truth is the only way a small business will thrive. And I love candles. I love making them, burning them, selling them, and helping others learn about them.
From one candle lover to another, please comment, share, and let me know how you feel about what you read here.
Want to write a guest post for our blog?