EUGENE, Ore. — The dark days of winter are usually bright times for Eugene-based Cascade Candle Co.
"Fifty percent of our business is in the last four months of the year," said Al Roeske, president of 16-year-old Cascade Candle, which makes candles for homes nationwide. "It is extremely important to us."
To accommodate the increased work, Cascade more than triples its staff, from about 10 to as many as 35.
The basic shape and structure of a candle has not changed for hundreds of years: a cylinder of wax surrounding a central wick. But where the primary function of candles in pre-electricity days was to shed light, today their purpose is to create a mood, accomplished partly through people's sense of smell. People may have all the 75-watt light they need from light bulbs, yet crave the look and smell of a flame burning in wax.
Producing candles for sale by other companies under their brand names — private labeling — makes up 75 percent of Cascade's business. Over the years, Cascade's private-label clients have included Shaklee Corp. in Pleasanton, Calif., and Paris Presents, a distributor of bath and beauty products in Gurnee, Ill.
"When you talk about private-label (candle) manufacturers, we are one of the larger ones," said Roeske. "If you have a candle design and need to have it manufactured, we are the people you'd come to."
Compared to large national manufacturers such as Yankee Candle Co. in South Deerfield, Mass. (founded in 1969), and Root Candles in Medina, Ohio (1928), Cascade is a small player.
However, Roeske said his company is distinguished by its ability to customize products. Customers can walk into Cascade's retail store and specify the color and fragrance they want combined in a single candle. "Although it will take some time to have it made, if you can wait until next time I pour, you'll get your candle," Roeske said.
More commonly, the company makes batches of candles to order for retailers who want a particular style or fragrance. Cascade puts fragrance into 95 percent of its output. "People want their mood altered and they want their surroundings altered, and burning a scented candle seems to be the way to do that," Roeske said.
Cascade buys wax by the ton, and melts it in double-jacketed vats with a hot water circulating system. The wax is poured into molds to make the candles of various shapes, sizes, colors and scents.
Cascade can make as many as 5,000 candles in a day, but on days when it is producing runs of custom candles, output might only be 300.
Different candles use waxes of different melting points.
"We have an individual formula for each candle we make," Roeske said. Most of Cascade's candles are made with the industry standard, a petroleum-based paraffin wax. But there's a more expensive alternative called CleanWax, a vegetable-based wax that is claimed to burn more cleanly. It is used in most of Cascade's votive candles.
Cascade will fill custom orders but does not stock special ingredients. If customers want a rock, a trinket or a fragrance added to their candles, they must provide it.
Cascade developed a gem crystal series for a client, Angelic Mercantile, whose founder espoused the power of crystals.
"She wanted a candle that would expose gem crystals as it burned, and users would receive the benefits of the crystal's vibration powers," Roeske said.
Cascade's ruby candle contains ruby crystals, and its diamond candle has diamonds, although they are not gem-quality stones.
"This line has a really big following," Roeske said.
When the crystal-line originator wanted to leave the business around 1995, Roeske bought her company. Cascade continues to manufacture this series. The candles sell for $20 to $25 apiece.
Roeske got started in the business when he bought the assets of a company in financial difficulty called Hot Wax Candles. The company sold its output at gift and trade shows, but after a year Roeske decided he didn't like this arrangement.
Instead of selling off-the-shelf designs, he transformed the focus of the company to making candles to order. Roeske said most of Cascade's candles are ordered before they are made. "I'm not good at predicting what other people want, but I'm very good at fulfilling your dreams," he said.
His clients, who number in the hundreds, often find him through word of mouth from other customers.
The company advertises in an 800-phone-number directory. But Roeske said most clients find Cascade through fragrance manufacturers or other companies in the candle industry.
Cascade's newest retail store got its start when Carol Reynolds, a California-based leasing representative for General Growth Properties, purchased candles from Cascade during business trips to Eugene.
"We are always looking for interesting or unique tenants that we don't have," Reynolds said.
Roeske recalled: "She kept talking to me about the mall and asking, 'Where would you want to be?' "
He decided the best spot would be between Victoria's Secret and Euphoria Chocolates. He called this the "pamper me" section of the mall, frequented by women customers inclined to indulge themselves.
When the space became available, Cascade opened its retail store there.
Women make up 95 percent of Cascade's customers.
"Guys in a candle shop are rare," Roeske acknowledged. "Guys like candles, too. We just don't talk about it as much. They're more analytical and interested in what's the burn time."
The National Candle Association estimates that 96 percent of all candles purchased are bought by women.
When it comes to making a buying decision, consumers evaluate scent, and then color, Roeske said. "Getting the right scent is huge," he said.
How does he find out which scents are hot? Roeske described several of his co-workers as "cutting-edge shoppers," and he relies on their ideas about scents. They recently advised him to add a fragrance called Plumeria, obtained from a Hawaiian flower.
Just like fashions, fragrances go in — and out — of style. Roeske said two years ago, cucumber melon was a must-have scent.
The National Candle Association estimates U.S. retail candle sales at $2 billion annually. Candles are reportedly used in seven out of every 10 American households.