Birch Candle Studio to go 100 Percent E-Commerce
HANWELL – Birch Candle Studio is moving towards becoming a completely e-commerce business. Amber Tisdale, the shop’s owner, says she will soon close her storefront in an effort to shift the business online.
Currently located at 1757 Hanwell Road, Birch Candle Studio is not your typical candle store. Tisdale says she creates candles with funny and unique labels that stand out. Having started candle making as a small hobby in her kitchen, she quickly outgrew the space and moved into a retail space.
“We [Tisdale and her husband] kind of brainstormed what Birch Candle as a physical location could look like,” Tisdale tells Huddle. “So, we decided we wanted to do a kind of community market type feel where we bring in local vendors and they can sell their products out of the store.”
Tisdale says that Birch Candle Studio carries products from a variety of local artisans, carrying roughly 20-25 vendors at a time. Mostly they are local to Hanwell and Fredericton, however she says that there are some vendors from Miramichi and other locations in New Brunswick.
Unlike many artisan shops, Birch does not charge commission from the vendors, allowing them to keep 100 per cent of their profits. Keeping the vendor fee at a low price, she wants to help support local artisans while bringing variety into the store.
“It’s a really good one-stop-shop for those cool and unique gifts in the Hanwell area,” says Tisdale.
Tisdale herself specializes in creating candles and wax melts that she sells in her shop. These are all made from soy wax and are paraffin free. Along with this, they are made using fragrances that are sourced only from Canada. But what really puts her candles apart is the branding and labeling.
“I like everything to be a little bit witty, a little bit cheeky, a little fun, so it doesn’t blend into the background,” she says.
Tisdale also says she does custom candles. Having done some for weddings, events, and even other businesses with their names and logos on them, she has made a variety of different scents and styles of candles.
After being open for roughly a year and a half, Birch is transitioning into becoming a completely ec-ommerce business. Tisdale says it is in effort to get their products not only Canada-wide, but also through North America.
“I do have a couple stores in the States and in Canada that have picked up a couple of my candles, so it’s slowly going that way, and eventually we will shift to solely online,” says Tisdale.
On July 1st, Birch Candle Studio will be closing the doors to their storefront. Currently, they are having a closing sale on all of their products with the exclusion of vendor products.
The Birch Candle Studio website is already active, but they hope to make some changes to it soon. Right now, it is available for anyone to shop for products, but they want to add some wholesale options as well.
In the upcoming weeks, they hope to have everything gone from their storefront, even their display fixtures, but will be becoming even more present online. With their website and their social media platforms, Birch Candle Studio will still be available for all those who have come to love them.
Ryley Roach is a Huddle student intern, based in Fredericton. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].