At A Glance

Brian Bahr wrote the business plan for what would be NorthWood Candle & Craft in 2010 to honor the memory of his father. As you see how Brian grew the company from a small kiosk at the Mall of America into a national fragrance distributor, notice how everything from product development to the guides and tutorials on the Web site are geared to help his customers make candles. 

Who is Brian Bahr

Brian Bahr founded NorthWood Candle & Craft 15 years ago out of a spare bedroom in Minnesota home. Today, his company offers more than 1,200 products in 450 different fragrances, having grown from local candlemaker into a national supplier for the materials needed to make a wide variety of home-fragrance products. Everything from bath bombs to beauty products, and as you read about how this family owned and operated business blossomed, you’ll see how e-Commerce opened the door to possibilities that Bahr never imagined when he was growing up in a small town tucked up against the Canadian border. 

About NorthWood Candle Supply

The business started with a simple observation: Most candles were marketed to women, the scents dominated by floral themes. “I just wanted something that was more marketed towards guys,” Brian says. The first retail outlet was a kiosk at the Mall of America, which opened in 2011. Within five years, the company had its own warehouse. The turning point in the business came in 2016 when NorthWood began selling supplies, offering hobbyists and small business owners the raw materials necessary to make their own candles and other home-fragrance products. “That really expanded the market,” Brian says. “It was a really big jump for us.” The COVID shutdown provided a significant boost because people were looking for things they could do at home.

Brian’s Journey

Brian grew up making candles with his dad, and he put together his initial business plan to honor the memory of his father. He took out no financing, and at first, there were no other employees.

“Most of everything went right back into the business,” Brian says. “We basically started small and just kept rolling it back into the company.”

NorthWood remains a lean team with just over a dozen full-time employees, the majority of whom work in the company’s office or its warehouse though NorthWood does use offshore workers to handle some of the marketing and administrative work.

Perfecting the formula

Candlemaking is extremely technical as everything from the fragrance to the wax to the way a wick burns is the result of specific chemical processes and interactions. It’s hard to get it right, but once you do, it becomes a formula for success.

“We keep a lot of our customers coming back,” Brian says. “Once they start using one of our fragrances, they want to come back to us for it.”

More than half of NorthWood’s business comes from repeat customers, some of whom have been buying supplies for more than five years. One of the biggest innovations has been a specific proprietary wax that NorthWood developed, creating a product that burns consistently with a wide variety of wicks. This has made one of the most difficult parts of candlemaking a little easier for its customers. “We worked with the company for about three years to develop the wax,” Brian says. “We finally have got one that's pretty easy to work with.”

Seasonal surge

Candles are a staple of the holiday season, so it’s not a surprise that NorthWood’s sales triple when compared to the summer. But as a supplier, NorthWood’s holiday season starts a few months early since the company is selling the materials that hobbyists and small-business owners will use to make those holiday candles. NorthWood does hire temporary workers this time of year, but the biggest difference comes from planning ahead. “We just have to make sure that our systems are in place, team capacities are ready,” Brian says, “and we go from there.”

‍NorthWood Candle’s CX Philosophy

NorthWood has a very clear understanding of who its core customers are: “We cater to a community of DIY enthusiasts and small-business owners,” Brian says. “We want to make their ordering and crafting process as smooth as possible.” NorthWood is more than just a source for materials. It serves as a resource for its customers, providing tutorials, guides and blog articles that provide both information and inspiration, making its Web site more than just a storefront. “We want to be there for them, partner with them as opposed to just being a supplier,” Brian says. “That has really helped us grow.”

‍Wholesale changes

NorthWood started making an artisanal retail product. It has grown into being a supplier for customers who are making retail products. The next logical step, Brian says, is to build out into wholesale distribution.

“We'd like to get our business-to-business pricing down,” Brian says, “Create a dedicated wholesale catalog, and get somebody on for sales that can deal with the business customers.”