Merchant of the Month: May 2026

From humble beginnings, Candy began making her own candles in 2020, selling them at farmers' markets and local events. Now she's been bringing the joys of candle making to our community since opening her Savage Mill location in 2023, and it's only going up from there. She brings a stress relieving activity to the Ellicott City community, and we cannot be happier to have her on Main Street with us.

Tell us about your business.

Candles by Candy has been operating since 2019. Started right during the pandemic, I purchased a candle making kit and just started making them. I started doing farmers markets, but I kind of did it as therapy, just as a form of relief with everything going on. But it turned and transitioned into a business, and then I wanted to teach others the joy and the experience of candle making. Then I started doing candle making classes mobile at first. We still are mobile. And then I opened up my first storefront in 2023 in Savage Mill and then opened at this location last year. And we don’t just make candles. You can make room sprays and perfume and colognes as well.

What problems does your business solve for customers?

I think just providing a form of escape. Solving the problem with the day-to-day hustle that everyone's out there doing with family, work and things like that. Sometimes you just need to tap into that creative side and focus on that for about an hour. We help guests escape from everyday stress and just come in and have a great time.

What makes your business unique?

We’re unique because we do take walk-ins. Especially in this area, which is a high traffic for tourists or guests visiting for the day, just stopping in, you don't need an appointment. You can just walk right in and make a candle. And another thing is it only takes an hour. I've noticed candle making experiences at other places, you have to go back the next day to pick up your candle. Here you take it home the same day with you.

Who is your ideal customer?

The everyday mom, the working professional mom who wants their girl time, and sometimes they even bring their kids in here as well.

What has been your proudest milestone so far?

I would say this location. I operated for about four years in Savage Mill, stepped out on faith to open up a second location. It’s the right area too, so it's the perfect area for this environment. We have more foot traffic here on weekends, especially if it's a nice day out. We get a lot more walk ins at this location.

What challenges have you overcome as a business owner?

I would say it's Scaling. Scaling can be a little difficult and then jumping into this new location. It had its challenges in the beginning, as far as staffing, marketing, and then we're still working on getting the word out to everyone, but we're still we're overcoming those challenges day by day. This location now is open Tuesday through Sunday, where before it was by appointment only. That was another challenge as far as staffing, just having enough staff at both locations.

How do you support or engage with your community?

We have local women owned businesses that sell their products at both locations. So that's kind of how I got started as well. I had local businesses just support Candles by Candy's brand, and I was selling candles at different retail stores and places in Howard County. We reach out to community by supporting other local businesses, women owned businesses, and then we do a lot of donations with schools. And we also are starting a summer camp this summer at our Savage Mill location. We partnered with Howard County as a contractor, so we'll be giving back to kids in our community that way as well. We also do a lot of donations to schools. Parents can sign up right through Howard County Parks and Rec.

What products or services are you most excited about right now?

Always candle making, because that was our first experience, and it's still doing really well. The cologne and perfume making classes are really taking over now, so there's more people booking those now. It’s exciting to see that since we just implemented that new experience last year.

What's next for your business?

I would like to expand further eventually, so open up another location, maybe down the line. Maybe 10 years from now, start franchising and things like that. So that's something that would be very exciting, so I'm looking into those things as well.

What do you want customers to feel when they work with you?

Definitely good energy. Good vibes. A great environment. Energy is really big for me. So like when you come in, you just feel the ambience. You can just feel the whole vibes, and it's just a calming place.