February 2012

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	Marion Meradji, owner of Simple Strands of Cumming, Ga., photographed with a candle display. Meradji is versed in how scents can influence a person’s sense of well being.

ore significance is attached to candles and other scented merchandise available in new age stores than from the mainstream. A ground-level place to start, for customers as well as shop personnel that buy for the store, is to be sure to like the scent emanating from the product. From there, using their best powers of displaying the choices works wonders with sales.

To deepen their ceremony, ritual, or meditation experience or simply create a generally pleasant ambience, New Agers contemplate the many choices of candle pillars, tapers, and votives to choose from at new age shops.

The flame emitted from any of a wide array of scented votives, pillars, and tea lights available at Esoterica, located in Leesburg, Va., can serve as a focal point for meditation, as well as to augment mental stimulation and enhance the aromatherapy experience, according to Store Manager Mike Smith. The package is complete when adding any of the store’s floral or mineral derived incenses and oils.

Smith prefers to provide shoppers with products crafted from ingredients that are as natural as possible. He advised that candles should not be left in a hot car and that no matter how any of the scented products are displayed, whether, as at the Esoterica-based store, on shelves or vendor-provided cabinets, that a florescent bulb is used to illuminate them. “And if halogen is used, be sure it’s spaced a good distance away to avoid candles melting.”

Scent is related to emotions and memory, conveyed Karen Walter, owner of Quantum Alchemy, Denver, Colo. “Therefore, number one is liking the scent chosen.” Also in consideration is that candle fragrances correlate with particular intentions, such as to relax or experience abundance. The scented choices are many in the store, from paraffin to a Quantum soy candle line, others from Crystal Journey and Coventry, to incenses and essential oils, also in store blends.

A generous scented candle display at Simple Strands. The shop carries the full line of candles from Coventry Candles.

Walter cross-merchandises candles with related items to illustrate purpose and use. For meditation or relaxation, she might incorporate a cushion, books on the topic, or Tibetan bells. Other display themes might be magic or Valentine’s Day. Whatever the array or location in the $180,000 annual income, 800-square-foot store, she is sure to include an informational card at point of purchase that describes product usage. “If it isn’t provided by the manufacturer, we make our own.”

Aromatherapy is a powerful healing tool, affirmed Susan Ustas, owner of Zu Zu’s New Age Gift Shop of Melrose, Mass., “And the candles, incense and oils used in conjunction with it assist in helping clients calm down, relax, and focus attention when pulled in so many directions as we are today.”

The store was expanded in 2009 to 1,500 square feet to offer 700 square feet of retail space for the wide selection of candles, incense and bath crystals, as well as to provide the remainder space for classes, workshops, seminars, pamper parties, mini-events and use of a specified healing room.

Ustas recommends stores stock candles made with as few ingredients as possible. “They burn clean and cleanup better. And the more natural they are, the less toxic.”

Customers visit the Green Man shop, located in Rolla, Mo., for unscented candles, incense, and aroma lamp oil. Owner Paul Holsombeck had stocked scented candles, which did not light the fire of the area’s clientele.

	Customers can choose from a wide variety of incense scents at Simple Strands

Holsombeck’s customers use the incense selections, which he displays aesthetically in the 600-square-foot store, for special purposes such as various rituals and aromatics. “They’re going over very well. They help people relax and simply enjoy a pleasant environment.”

He has discovered that instead of burning candles or incense in the store, by setting one on a teacup warmer pad, they last longer and diffuse the scent slowly.

An eclectic mix of display fixtures hold the scented merchandise at Simple Strands of Cumming, Ga. Owner Marion Meradji shops the local thrift shops for her finds.

A tiered expandable fixture allows customers to see all the candles easily, as they are arranged on three levels. Wine bottle racks, designed to hold 20 wine bottles, as well as a 6-foot-tall metal CD rack tower, both Goodwill bargains, are the answers for the large fat-size candles. Incense, however, is hung on peg racks contained in the manufacturer’s packaging.

Meradji carries complete lines of Sun’s Eye Oils and Coventry Candles and a wide assortment of incense in the 2,400-square-foot store, which earns over $150,000 annually. “Scents change our perceptions of things and each scent is associated with a different energy,” she explained, and whatever stratum shoppers would like to attain, a scent to boost in that direction is likely available.

At 7,000 square feet, Mystickal Voyage, located in Nottingham, Md., is one of the largest new age shops in the country. Customers can shop Owner Lori Perdue’s favorite Coventry lines such as Witches Brew, Moon Magic and Hoo Doo candles, also Reiki-charged candles from Crystal Journey, the most popular Aromaland line for spritzers, roll-on oils, and bath salts, and Bath and Body aromatherapy products.

Candles are used for so many varied purposes from magical work, aromatherapy, and healing, to meditation, that Perdue is insistent, “The candle line has to be comprehensive and good quality. Customers expect quality from us, so it has to be a source I respect and approve of. Coventry has integrity in how they do business. Quality, packaging and price point has to be in line with the rest of our goods.”

Perdue groups scented products on shelves or tables throughout the store, wherever space allows. An entire tall bookshelf holds the full candle lines in the retail area, alongside a coffee shop, a holistic center and a yoga center.