Yankee Candle Scents & Nonsense

Not too long ago my family and I visited the home of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Vermont. In their typical tongue-in-cheek fashion, the Ben & Jerry's marketers have decided to acknowledge the flavors that did not quite make the grade by displaying them on tombstones in a faux flavor graveyard. This got me to thinking about the Yankee Candle hits and misses over the years. What products and fragrances had real glow and which were no more than a pool of melted wax? In no one’s opinion but my own, here are the top 3 hits and misses in my Yankee Candle history:

Wax On

MacIntosh & Sage & Citrus – When introduced in 1998, MacIntosh and Sage & Citrus were enormously popular right from the first sniff. We’d had other scents that struck chords with our fans over the years, but these two were so uniquely wonderful that they led the way for other signature scents like Midsummer’s Night®, Clean Cotton®, and Mistletoe™.

Car Jars® - It’s been a decade since the launch of our candle-shaped auto fragrancers and boy has the Yankee Candle fan’s life changed since. This was our first non-candle product and since then fragrance fanatics the world over have been able to enjoy Yankee Candle scents in room sprays, potpourri, reeds, and even lip balm and anti-bac soap!

Fan Feedback – If there is one thing that changes the dynamic of everything we do, it’s hearing from and listening to all of the people who use our products. Whether we’re talking to customers face-to-face in our stores, reading what they write on facebook, or analyzing sales, our fans speak to us loud and clear!

Wax Off

Rhubarb Plum & Gooseberry Jam – These are two recent examples of when some scents can be a little too true-to-life!

Fragrant Shades of White – This out-of-the-box concept was developed on the notion that people may buy a candle if only its color didn’t clash with home décor. We poured all our best-selling fragrances in colorless wax so that if you wanted MacIntosh but detest the color red you could still enjoy the scent. Interest in these Fragrant Shades quickly faded away!

Discontinuing Storm Watch® & Fireside™ – And, I could add such other fan favorites as Eucalyptus and Patchouli. You all spoke loud and clear when these scents went away and we certainly learned an important lesson. We welcomed these favorites back into the line and you’ve welcomed them back into your homes!

A Scented Memory

Some people remember their first day on the job because they were excited or nervous or overwhelmed. I remember my first day on the job because of the way it smelled. February 16 1993 I arrived to my new job at the Yankee Candle Company and the air was filled with a mix of whatever they were making that day. I remember it being a strong floral - maybe Country Heather - with a sweet French Vanilla twist. To this day that scent will return and it will carry me back to that moment in time. The sense of smell is amazing that way. I remember in those early years when candles were poured where our store's Candle Emporium is today, I went home smelling like the fragrance that was being made. It was a good day if the scent was something like Sage & Citrus or the refreshing MacIntosh. Look out when an overpowering citronella was being made (thank goodness we now have Conceal® to ward off mosquitoes in a much more pleasant way)! On a Midsummer's Night® day, people at the local grocery store assumed I was wearing my boyfriend's clothes. When Spiced Pumpkin was on the menu I always felt like there would be something yummy waiting for me when I got home. Our factory is just down the road apiece from where it was back then and new technology allows us to keep much more of that precious scent in the wax rather than allowing it to waft away in the air. When the atmosphere is just right, though, and our candlemakers are crafting certain scents, I get a whiff of something wonderfully familiar and I feel that same first day of work excitement again. Yankee Candle, thanks for the memories!