10 — Indiana Gazette / The Blairsville Dispatch / Shopper’s Guide - Business Indiana - January 2023
Philly Street Candle Bar still burning bright
By KYLIE JASPER kjasper@indianagazette.net
how the idea of the busi- ness was going to be re- ceived,” she continued. “It’s such a novel idea for this area. I just thought, ‘Let’s take a chance and see what happens.’ I can’t say that anything surprised me because I had no expecta- tions. “I did not expect the con- nections I’m making with the people in town. We have a lot of people that are regulars here. I know what scents they want, how many candles they’re going to make. These are just people I’ve met through being here. It’s so cute. We have one guy that comes in and he wants four maple syrup candles every time he comes, even if it’s the middle of summer. These connections are such a nice surprise.” The functionality of the business itself is very com- munity-minded. Any cus- tomer who goes inside to make a candle will inter- act with any of the several employees, called “mixol- ogists,” that guide custom- ers through the whole can- dle-making process. Pa- trons are strongly encour- aged to bring their friends and family. The store is BYOB. Neiderhiser considers the recent addition of her
ways make sure before they leave that they love their candle. Seeing how happy they are and creating that experience with them is so rewarding.” Having a team of em- ployees she trusts and can count on is of much impor- tance to Neiderhiser. This frees her up to focus on the more mundane aspects of small business owning. “If you’ve never owned a small business before, you wouldn’t realize how much of it is back of the house stuff,” she said. “I went in thinking, ‘This is so cute, it’s gonna be like ‘Gilmore Girls.’ I’ll be able to be the owner out front with all the people,’ but I have to be in my office a lot. I don’t love that. “We’ve built such a great team, though,” she con- tinued. “I can trust them to do everything out front exactly the way it needs to be done. They know better than me in some ways at this point. I’m always ask- ing them questions and they know. It’s great. “With time, the shop will start to run itself a little bit more and I’ll have more of that time to be out front,” she said. “We’re getting there. It’s only been a year!” Philly Street Candle Bar tries to stay a part of the vi- brant Indiana community by participating in events such as Downtown Indi- ana’s It’s a Wonderful Life Festival. “One of our employees dressed up as Buddy the Elf,” Neiderhiser said. “It was a lot of fun.” This spring, the store will also be throwing its first-ever drag show called “Candles and Queens.” This was the idea of Franks, who performs as the drag queen “Desiree Storm” when he’s not busy at the store helping cus- tomers make candles. More information about this event will be an- nounced soon.
The flame at Philly Street Candle Bar is still burning bright as owner Andrea Neiderhiser and her ded- icated team of employees enter another year of busi- ness. Located at 740 Philadel- phia St., Philly Street Can- dle Bar opened its doors in the fall of 2021 as a way for Niederhieser to, in her own words, “not just sit at home passing the time.” “My girls are older now,” she said. “I worked for a while before they were born, but I really wanted to do something else now that they’re grown.” Philly Street Candle Bar is a creative retail experience in which customers choose from more than 120 scents to blend their own scented, long-burning soy-based candle. In terms of the twists and turns most small business owners face, Neiderhiser said, “There’s been a lot of learning. A huge learning curve. I’ve had a lot of help. The small businesses here in town are so supportive of one another. I’m not no- ticing much competitive- ness. Everyone wants to just support each other. “Honestly, I had no clue
KYLIE JASPER/ Gazette PHILLY STREET Candle Bar owner Andrea Neiderhiser poses with manager Derek Franks in the store.
manager, Derek Franks, a huge improvement to the business. Neiderhiser and Franks met at a wedding last May. At the time, he was work- ing as the manager of the Bath & Body Works shop in Westmoreland Mall. Franks was commuting an hour to and from every day.
“He came into the shop one day, and I let him know that I was looking for a manager that could really hit the ground running,” Neiderhiser said. “He of- fered right then to quit his job and come here. Hav- ing Derek around has been such a blessing to me. I can walk away and not worry.”
The addition of Franks has provided Neiderhis- er much reprieve, as well as the dynamic of another creative mind. “I’m constantly organiz- ing things, changing things around,” Franks said. “I love coming in early. “Every time I come back, it always looks better,” Nei- derhiser added. “He’s al- ways doing something.” At the time of this inter- view, Franks was develop- ing scents for a line of pre- filled zodiac-themed can- dles that are available for purchase now at the store. The happiness of her em- ployees is of top priority to Neiderhiser. “I tell my people all the time that I want to make sure they’re having fun and they are happy. Because people walking through those doors can see that in their faces. I don’t want grumpy people working here.” “I look forward to inter- acting with the custom- ers,” said Franks. “We al-
BEEF FROM THE BEGINNING
Thursday 5-7pm | Friday 2-7pm Saturday 9am-2pm 560 Neal Rd., Homer City Borkfarmspa@gmail.com 724.479.0656 Quality Freezer Beef Cuts Locally Raised and Finished
Frank Kinter, Jr., CLU, ChFC Phone: 724-463-5933 David Myers Phone: 724-465-4398
922 Philadelphia St • Indiana, PA 15701
See CANDLE: A-11
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software