Marcy and Carl Cook, the owners of EllieMae’s Boutique on Kirkwood Avenue, decided to open a custom candle bar just two weeks ago. The soft opening of Kirkwood Candle Bar was Friday, Nov. 4 and its grand opening was Saturday, Nov. 5.
The owners were able to make Kirkwood Candle Bar, which will exist inside of EllieMae’s, come to life quickly due to the support from Sabastian Garsenett and his partner Chad, who own Garsenett Beacon Candles in Holland, Michigan.
The idea for the business came from the couple’s daughter, Eleanor. While waiting to board a flight in California last March, she saw a create-your-own candle bar. While the Cooks were recently discussing what new ventures they could bring to Kirkwood, Eleanor suggested a candle bar similar to the one she had seen in March.
“I got a hold of Garsenett Beacon out of Holland, Michigan, and as luck has it, one of the owners, Sabastian, is from Bloomington so he’s a Hoosier at heart,” Marcy Cook said. “We felt like he was the right person to consult for the job.”
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During the last couple of weeks, the couple has worked to redesign a portion of their boutique for the candle bar. Sebastian and Chad have helped order, ship and print everything Kirkwood Candle Bar will need and have even been on-site helping them prepare to open.
Kirkwood Candle Bar will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. The store will take both reservations and walk-in customers.
The Candle Bar process will include finding a vessel, picking scents, and then starting the melting process.
“Each person who comes in to create a candle will have their own supplies, so they will pour their own scents together into their wax, they will trip their wick, they will pour the actual wax mixed with the fragrance into the vessel,” general manager of EllieMae’s Terra Hall said. “They will get to do all of the hands-on work.”
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The candles will take about 2 hours to solidify after completion, so the Candle Bar recommends grabbing a drink or lunch on Kirkwood, or coming to pick up your candle the next day.
The Cooks are excited for the new addition of the candle bar to its boutique and hope that the community enjoys the candle-making experience.
“You can come create your own fragrance for your house,” Marcy Cook said. “We’re just excited to offer this experience to the community.”
