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Oct 18, 2024

Local candle company Vellabox prepares to open first-ever retail storefront in the Short North

Bri Ellis, Vellabox’s CEO, and Lauren Taras, Vellabox’s business development lead, get excited about the opening of Vellabox’s first retail storefront on Saturday, located at 1128 N. High St., in

Bri Ellis, Vellabox’s CEO, and Lauren Taras, Vellabox’s business development lead, get excited about the opening of Vellabox’s first retail storefront on Saturday, located at 1128 N. High St., in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: Bri Ellis

America’s first candle-subscription-box company is ready to unveil its first brick-and-mortar store in Columbus.

Vellabox, a family-owned-and-operated artisan candle brand based in Columbus, will open its first retail storefront, called Vella & Co. Candle Studio and located at 1128 N. High St., Saturday. The store will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday to mark its grand opening.

Adam Ellis, the company’s founder, said he originally came up with the idea in 2015 while living and working in California.

“I was working as a software engineer at Stanford when subscription boxes were starting to gain momentum,” Adam Ellis said. “Simultaneously, the desire for natural product ingredients heightened in the U.S. and customers were searching for alternative candle options to industry leaders such as Yankee or Bath and Body Works. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset and decided it was the time for me to branch off on my own to develop the first U.S. candle subscription box.”

Bri Ellis, Vellabox CEO and Adam Ellis’ sister, said when her brother founded the company, it became America’s first-ever monthly candle subscription box brand and took off from there.

Adam Ellis (left), the founder of Vellabox, and Bri Ellis (right), Vellabox’s CEO, promoting their brand. Credit: Courtesy of Vellabox

“We’ve been in business for about nine years now doing all e-commerce sales,” Bri Ellis said. “We’ve shipped about 800,000 candles just from selling online.”

The company had humble beginnings, according to Adam Ellis, who said he initially ran the entire company out of his own living spaces in California.

“For the first four years Vellabox was in business, I ran the company by myself from my apartments in Los Angeles and San Diego — everything from website development and product design to managing partnerships and building and shipping orders, with the occasional help of friends and family,” Adam Ellis said. “Fast forward to today, Vellabox has over 20 employees, our own 16,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and we are about to open our first brick-and-mortar shop this week in the Short North.”

But this isn’t the Ellis family’s first rodeo in Columbus.

“Adam and I, we were both born and raised in Columbus, Ohio,” Bri Ellis said. “We opened a large warehouse space in Bexley a few years back because we knew that if we wanted to start a production facility, we wanted it to be close to home. We knew we wanted to be here and grow our company in Columbus.”

Bri Ellis said Vellabox has been testing the waters in Columbus by attending local markets and partnering with brands including Where I’m From, Land Grant Brewing Company, Third & Hollywood, Ampersand and Rooh and more.

“We really got our feet wet with different partnerships across the city and markets we’ve attended for the past couple of years,” Bri Ellis said. “Just having engaged in the local community has really sparked interest and in addition to that, we’ve always wanted to have a brick-and-mortar. It just wasn’t the right time until now.”

Candles sold by Vellabox. Credit: Bri Ellis

Bri Ellis said having an exclusively online candle business has proven to be difficult in the past.

“All of those candles sold online, people couldn’t smell them before they were purchased, so being able to have a place locally where people can come in and actually smell the scents before they buy them is really exciting,” Bri Ellis said. “It’ll be exciting to see that and be able to experience that with the customers in our own store.”

Bri Ellis said she hopes having a physical storefront will provide a more hands-on experience for customers.

“One thing we haven’t done before is that we will be hosting candle-pouring events in the community, as well as private parties and reservation events,” Bri Ellis said. “We’re really excited about the experience and about allowing people to customize their own scent and be able to take it home with them.”

She said the store will also sell candle accessories and other items including match boxes and jars, air fresheners, wick trimmers and more.

“We will have a build-your-own match jar station where we’ll have all different products that can double as vases or toothpick holders or soap dishes, just things you store your matches in that have a double life,” Bri Ellis said. “It’s something unique that the city of Columbus hasn’t seen before. We have candles but we also have industry-leading accessories to pair with them now.”

Vellabox, a Columbus-based candle company, is set to open its first retail storefront, located at 1128 N. High St., on June 8. Credit: Bri Ellis

The company has always tried to keep sustainability in mind. All candles are made with soy, coconut or vegetable wax and have cotton braided wicks as well as premium fragrances and essential oils, Bri Ellis said.

“We’re really adamant about the sustainability that goes into our candles and using clean ingredients,” Bri Ellis said. “Making sure we are conveying that atmosphere in our store and really giving the customer an idea of the brand we are representing in person is really important to us.”

On top of its focus on sustainability, Adam Ellis said he hopes to also provide a more individualized version of the company’s subscription box in the near future.

“We hope to see both Vellabox — our subscription service that rotates different U.S. candle artisans — and Vella & Co. — our in-house candle brand — continue to grow and thrive,” Adam Ellis said. “The next strides for Vellabox will be focused on improved subscription personalization by utilizing recent advancements in AI. We’re also looking at Vella & Co. to develop industry-leading candle collections and accessories, available online and in person at our flagship store, as well as other national retailers.”

Vella & Co. will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.