It all started in 1969, when seventeen year old Mike Kitteredge melted some crayons to make his mother a candle for Christmas. After a neighbour saw the gift and convinced him to sell it to her, Mike had enough of a stake to buy wax for two new candles—one to give his mother, one to sell. From that small start, Yankee Candle has become the most-recognised name in the candle business worldwide. Today they offer the world’s largest and most compelling selection of scented candles, accessories and home fragrances. Yankee Candle expanded to Europe with its first distribution centre opening in 1999 in Bristol. In 2002, they opened their first UK retail store and have not stopped since. There are now over 2000 stockists, retailers, outlets, concessions offering signature fragrances to customers across the UK, Europe and Asia. They moved into their current, expanded facility and European headquarters in 2012. Sharing their customers’ passion for fragrance, they capture every season and special moment in life with true-to-life scents—from Spring Blooms to Christmas traditions. They continue to not only develop new and vibrant fragrances but also new ways to deliver those scents.