April 2, 2024
MARINETTE — An aunt and niece duo from Marinette combined their shared passion for craftsmanship and a love for creating cozy, inviting spaces into a business.
Charlene Dura and her niece Evelyn Hurley are the proud owners of Auntie & Eve Candle Co. — a self-described “charming candle company” based in their hometown.
Dura — who also owns The Junky Artisan, a furniture painting business — said the idea behind Auntie & Eve Candle Co. was sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, she said she would host vintage markets out of her home workshop four times a year.
Dura said Auntie & Eve Candle Co. started as a causal add-on for her first vintage market after things began opening up following the pandemic — describing it as almost an afterthought.
“I thought it would be fun to have candles,” she said.
Though they add new scents throughout the year, Charlene Dura said Auntie & Eve Candle Co. offers signature scents, including lavender and lemon cake. Submitted Photo
Dura said she and Hurley began experimenting with a candle-making kit she purchased — but never did she expect they would be so popular.
“People started buying them and told us how much they liked them,” she said.
The pair’s candle-making endeavors, Dura said, started in her kitchen — making small batches with a tiny pouring pitcher and little tins as containers.
“There was such a demand we moved up to amber jars,” Dura said. “The candles are bigger now than my furniture painting business.”
In addition to candles, Auntie & Eve Candle Co. sells wax melts and sprays, which are all available at Dura’s quarterly pop-up markets, vendor fairs, online and through wholesale accounts.
“We soon progressed beyond that simple candle kit,” she said. “Now, we buy our supplies in larger quantities.”
It’s all in the ingredients
Dura said Auntie & Eve Candle Co. uses hand-poured soy wax in their products, which burns cleaner.
Last summer, she said they took things even further and began creating custom fragrances.
“We take two fragrances with a scent note in common and blend them, creating a richer, deeper fragrance,” she said. “The custom fragrances have become popular. We sometimes put two together you wouldn’t think would fit, but they do.”
When blending fragrances, Dura said the top scent is the one people smell first, but the longer the candle burns, the middle and base scents emerge.
She said Auntie & Eve Candle Co.’s eight-ounce candles can burn for more than 50 hours.
Dura said when her supplier began offering room sprays, they decided to add their special fragrances to the spray base and add them to Auntie & Eve Candle Co.’s product lineup.
Charlene Dura said the business’ non-toxic room sprays are popular. Submitted Photo
“The room sprays are popular,” she said. “They are non-toxic and remove odors instead of covering them up.”
Scents
Dura said they release special collections for spring/summer, autumn and Christmas/winter — with the spring/summer collection debuting last month.
And though they add new scents throughout the year, Dura said Auntie & Eve Candle Co. offers signature scents, including lavender and lemon cake and up north.
Dura said Hurley, a junior in high school who stays busy with sports and other work, helps out when she can, especially during the summer and is glad to have her as part of the team.
“She helps me prepare for the fall,” she said. “Those scents are the most popular by far.”
Dura said fall is the busiest time of the year for Auntie & Eve Candle Co.
When creating new scents, Dura said they start by pairing different fragrance notes together and creating small wax melt samples they then give to a small group of testers to provide feedback.
In addition to candles and room sprays, Auntie & Eve Candle Co. also sells wax melts. Submitted Photo
She said about 90% of the business’ suppliers are from Wisconsin.
“It’s important for us to support other businesses in the state,” she said.
Aimed at growing
To help Auntie & Eve Candle Co. grow, Dura said she is focused on acquiring more wholesale accounts.
For example, the business’ products are available at Bella Hair in Peshtigo, Secret Garden Floral by Stephanie in Oconto and Front Porch Market in Coleman, which she said receives a lot of traffic as people head north.
“We have a lot of website traffic, driven by people who purchased our candles somewhere and want more of them so they buy items online,” she said.
For more information on Auntie & Eve Candle Co., visit thejunkyartisan.com.