Wick: A Candle Bar is opening a second location Sept. 7, five years after Jacksonville entrepreneurs Kristanna and Hampton Barnes launched their first custom-candle store in San Marco.
The mother-and-son owners intend to open in the South Beach Regional shopping center in Jacksonville Beach.
It will be in the 1,600-square-foot Space 16 in the center that is anchored by The Home Depot, Nordstrom Rack, T.J. Maxx and Ross.
“Hampton always knew he wanted us to expand to Jacksonville Beach as many customers were coming in town from the beaches and it is a rapidly expanding area,” Kristanna Barnes said by email Sept. 5.
“Making Jacksonville Beach our second location allows us to reach UNF students and St. Johns County. South Beach Regional Shopping Center made complete sense as it is home to many stores that our customers frequent,” she said.
The store is at 3972 S. Third St. in Jacksonville Beach, at northwest Butler Boulevard and Third Street. Jacksonville-based Regency Centers Corp. is the landlord.
The University of North Florida, west of the site, is north of Butler Boulevard between Interstate 295 and Kernan Boulevard.
Barnes said each location employs eight people.
How Wick works
The duo started the hands-on venue that invites customers to choose a jar, design a label and create a custom-scented candle, a process that takes about 45 minutes.
Wick stocks more than 90 fragrances.
Customers come in, are shown a candle wall with the scents and choose several they like.
A worker helps them choose the scents that work well together, the customer mixes the scents, pours the oil into the wax and then pays.
After 90 minutes, the customer can return to pick up the candle. In the meantime, they are encouraged to explore the area.
In San Marco, pricing, depending on the size and style of the jar, ranges from $23-$40 with most options about $28.
Customers also can customize sprays, oils, reed diffusers and body-care items like scrubs, lotions and hand soaps.
Walk-ins are welcome while groups of four or more are asked to make a reservation at wickacandlebar.com so they can be seated together at the Scent Bar.
The Jacksonville Beach store is almost twice the size of the 900-square-foot San Marco location and will offer two Scent Bars, Barnes said.
Barnes said the Jacksonville Beach store opens daily Tuesday-Sunday at 11 a.m., closing at 7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday.
The COVID experience
They opened the first store Sept. 20, 2019, at 1641 Hendricks Ave. in San Marco, not long before the coronavirus pandemic shutdown that began in March 2020.
“Opening a second location has always been in our plan but Covid caused us to move more cautiously,” Barnes said by email.
“As life got back to normal our weekends became extremely busy and at times have caused us to turn customers away if they did not have reservations.”
Barnes said Wick had been open only six months when COVID caused the shutdown.
She said Hampton quickly added online shopping to the website, allowing customers to order single-scent candles or their own scent combinations that he poured. The candles were shipped or picked up curbside.
“The main reason we were able to survive is that we are an experience and when Covid restrictions were lifted, people wanted to come out and socialize,” she said.
Before opening in 2019, Barnes said that after visiting a candle bar in Cincinnati, she brought the idea to Hampton and they decided to open the business together. She is a former chair and two-term member of the Duval County School Board.
Before the shutdown, the store was “doing really, really well,” Barnes said at the time.
“We were very busy, having great fun,” she said. “People seemed to really enjoy having something to do and to gather with their friends.”
When nonessential businesses were required to close, Wick shut its doors March 17, 2020. That was “worrisome” to her and Hampton, especially with a new business.
Barnes said they received a few orders a day through the website, which helped keep the business’s name out there and provided some income.
She said since her company was less than a year old, the only small business assistance program she qualified for was the Paycheck Protection Program, which she received. The other loans and assistance available required businesses to have operated for one year.
Barnes said she continued paying her two full-time employees during the shutdown.
“People still love candles. The pandemic wasn’t going to stop people wanting candles,” she said.
The time since then also has been a growth period for the Barnes family. Hampton and his wife had a son who turns 4 in October and a daughter who will be 1 in December.
And both of the partners celebrate birthdays soon – Kris turns 70 on Sept. 13 and Hampton is 37 on Sept. 14.