Flameless Candles | Scentsy Products | Scentsy Candles

By Author: Lisa Murdock
Total Articles: 20
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The Scentsy History: From a Sheep Farm to One of the Fastest Growing Companies in the US Today This article is written by Lisa Murdock Independent Scentsy Consultant scents2buy.com The Scentsy story is an incredible one. It is one of inspiration and vision mixed with a lot of hard work. This story began with two stay-at-home moms who were looking to start a business that could work around their children and provide some financial support to their families. Kara Egan and Colette Gunnell founded Scentsy and started making the candle bars in their basement. At a show, they had a booth and happened to be across from Orville Thompson, an entrepreneur from Boise, ID. Orville was intrigued with the Scentsy idea of flameless candles and loved the products right away. He took some product home and his wife loved it as much as he did. He decided to buy the company from Kara and Colette in 2004. After studying different ways to market the product, he decided to make the company a direct selling, party Plan Company and launched the company on July 1, 2004.

Scentsy started out in a 40 ft ocean container on Orville's sheep farm in ...
... Idaho. The Scentsy bars were hand poured and many of the employees were family members trying to help out. There was a vision for Scentsy and with time, things began to grow at a rate most companies only dream about. In October 2004 Scentsy moved out of the ocean container and into 1,800 square feet of office space. The bars were still being hand poured but the company we definitely growing. They knew they wouldn't stay in this space long but it was what they could afford at the time. By June 2006, Scentsy moved again and their office space doubled to 5,000 square feet.

The year 2007 brought huge changes. With over 600% growth for the year, Scentsy made a bold move and leased a 42,000 square foot building. Many were doubtful the company would ever use all this space but Orville had a vision and many were there believing in him and Scentsy.

In 2008 the company had a special machine designed to automate the product production. Scentsy bars were now able to be produced in mass quantity with this new machine. This machine was named Alice, after Heidi Thompson's mother who has worked so hard hand pouring bars for the company in the beginning. A second machine was purchased later that year and named Fred, after Heidi's stepfather, who also poured bars in those early days.

In July 2009 Scentsy was recognized by the Direct Selling Association (DSA) by being given the first ever, DSA Rising Star Award. This award was given to the DSA Company that showed the most remarkable growth while demonstrating adherence to the DSA's Code of Ethics. This same month was Scentsy's five year anniversary. In October 2009 Scentsy expanded into Canada. They already operate in all 50 US states, Guam, and Puerto Rico and now Canada. The company has done very well in Canada and continue to expand there.
In 2010 Scentsy moved into a 200,000 square foot building. They have over 500 employees and have signed up over 110,000 Independent Scentsy Consultants. Growth has continued to be incredible in 2010 and Scentsy was just named the 19th fastest growing company in the US in INC 500 magazine.

Electric candle warmers and wax bars were the first Scentsy products that were produced but now Scentsy has so many other items that have been added to the product line. There are plug in warmers, room sprays, scent circles (car fresheners), scented stuffed animals (Scentsy buddies), hand sanitizer, and travel tins. With this wonderful assortment of products, the company will continue to grow and expand.

What started out as a simple idea of wanting a safe candle for families to use and enjoy, has now become an incredible business that is taking the candle industry to a new level. Scentsy has plans to expand in other markets around the world and share this wonderful product and opportunity. Those who are involved with this wonderful company cannot wait to see what 2011 will bring. To find out more about Scentsy products and the business opportunity please visit www.Scents2Buy.com.