Scentchips are highly fragranced wax chips that have been handmade in San Antonio for 25 years. Janelle, who always wanted to own a gift shop, was looking around for the just the right product to feature in her yet-to-be store.
“She found the Scentchips and the stress fragrance really saved her life on that trip,” Bill said. Allergic to most candles because of chemicals, Bill said Scentchips are made of all natural ingredients, which is good news for households where couples can’t agree on candles and scents because of allergies.
When the Gillums returned home to Huber Heights, Janelle knew she had found a product that people in the area would like. Unlike scented “tarts” that many candle manufacturers make, Scentchips are 12 -15 percent fragranced, giving them a longer life of almost 140 hours.
“I told her that regular candle melts were a waste of money and said she should find something to scent the house that was more efficient,” Bill said. “And she found it!”
Janelle, an bookkeeper by trade, decided to follow her husband Bill, who owns a commercial cleaning company, into the small business arena almost six years ago. With the opening of “Cozy Melts” in Huber Heights in December of 2003, she was realizing her dream. She also became the first distributor of Scentchips outside of Texas.
“We started with a small space and the Scentchips and some candles,” Janelle said. “But after a little more than a year, we had outgrown it.”
Today, Cozy Melts is located at 6204 Brandt Pike and offers not only wax candles and melts, but also a “paint your own” pottery studio and coffee bar.
“I added potpourri warmers to my line almost immediately,” Janelle said. “But people started asking for different designs that I didn’t have, so I decided to add the pottery so folks could design their own.”
Wildly popular, especially with the economic downturn and families more interested in stay at home vacations this year, the pottery studio is thriving, with school and other youth groups visiting as well as families and adult groups. Two years ago, Janelle expanded by taking over the space next door and adding two party rooms that can be rented out for any occasion.
Now the only remaining “paint your own pottery” studio in Montgomery County, Cozy Melts attracts people from all across the Miami Valley.
“We have a real emphasis on hands-on customer service here,” Janelle said. “We teach people painting techniques as they go along.”
Janelle has helped toddlers as young at 18 months paint a piece of pottery and caters to families and groups of all sizes.
“It’s been so nice to see a lot of single dads coming in this summer with their kids,” Janelle said. “And a hand painted piece of pottery makes a more personal gift as well.”
In addition to pottery and candles, Cozy Melts also carries a full line of the very popular Webkinz plush toys and offers a cappuccino bar with snacks. They also offer the largest selection of candle making supplies in the area. But the wax product the Gillums found in Texas that started it all remains popular.
“I’ve had to educate the Scentchips folks about what fragrances people like in this part of the country,” Janelle said. “But now they make more food scents that we can mix together to make custom scents and people really like those.”
Getting it right
The Aug. 20 Hereabouts column about the Huber Heights Adopt-A-Park program contained some errors. Christopher Lohr and Trisha Reents are the correct spellings for the city employees. Tollgate Park should be Shullgate and the Adopt-A--Park program is designed for groups who need to complete community service projects.
Contact this columnist at (937) 475-8212 or banspach@woh.rr.com.
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