A fun, upbeat, unique local candle store sits right on the corner of the heart of the Fayetteville Square, offering a creative spin on retail, inviting customers to slow down, engage the senses, and design a candle entirely their own.
Heirloom Candle Bar is a warm, inviting shop that is equal parts workshop and gathering space, centered on the idea that scent is deeply personal. Owners Adam and Sierra Hawkins took over the business last March and quickly fell in love with both the craft and the community it fostered.
Creating a candle at Heirloom begins with choosing a vessel, which is the container that will hold the wax. Each season brings a new selection of vessels in varying sizes, styles, and price points. From there, participants move on to what Adam describes as the most personal step: choosing a scent.
This step can take a long time, as you smell each amazing scent that Heirloom carries. They carry up to 40 fragrances at a time, rotating seasonally. Participants can choose a single scent or blend up to two, experimenting with combinations, which is particularly popular with the floral-to-citrus-forward scents in the spring. But the process goes beyond simply finding something that smells good.
“When you’re making a custom candle,” Adam said, “and you’re working with scents and creating bonding memories, every time you light that candle, that scent triggers that memory. You get to relive it over and over again.”
Once a vessel and scent are chosen, participants head to communal tables set up for up to 24 people. Each station includes a scale reminiscent of a high school chemistry lab, which is used to pour in the exact amount of ingredients from the recipe card tucked inside the vessel that details the precise amount of wax and fragrance oil needed.
Participants first measure the fragrance oil into a beaker, then switch to a metal pitcher to pour the correct amount of wax. Heirloom prides itself on using clean ingredients; all candles are phthalate-free and made with soy, coconut, and apricot wax. The shop even offers a 100 percent beeswax candle in the shape of a bee, with a delicious smell of honey.
After pouring the hot wax, participants bring the vessel back to the scale and take a 100 percent cotton wick, sticking it in the middle of the vessel before combining the wax and fragrance oil.
The mixture is stirred for two minutes, after which participants can further customize by adding color or decorative elements. Candle colors range from soft neutrals to warm colors like yellow and orange, to cool, bold hues like green, purple, or blue. After selecting a color, the participants mix the color into the candle for an additional two minutes, the perfect amount of time to choose decorations. Candle toppings include dried jasmine, rose petals, and varying seasonal decorations.
The candle you create is uniquely yours, Adam explains, along with the candle-making experience.
“When you make your signature candle, it is yours,” Adam said. “And the process takes 30 to 40 minutes, so it is an experience of its own, but it doesn’t dominate your entire afternoon.”
The store fills a thoughtful niche, offering an experience that livens a day rather than consuming it, Adam said.
Beyond walk-ins and reservations, Heirloom Candle Bar continues to expand its reach throughout the community, accepting walk-ins and large parties. Heirloom will also come to you. Heirloom will bring a pop-up bar with hot wax and vessels for all sorts of events, including sorority gatherings, corporate events, and private parties. They also often host workshops, like the popular Sip and Wick events, a ticketed experience that couples tend to enjoy, as well as others tied to holidays.
Thrifty Thursday is another way Heirloom connects with the community, allowing the public to bring in a thrifted vessel of their choice or come in for a refill to create again, blending sustainability with creativity.
Adam and Sierra explained the excitement surrounding the business's rapid growth, which they have seen over the past year, with more fun and creative plans for future workshops and a potential expansion into fragrance and perfume.
The final step in the customization process is naming the candle. Once complete, each candle stays overnight at Heirloom to set and is ready for pick up the following day.
The local shop offers a special experience not only in-store, allowing both reservations and walk-ins, but also by bringing its business to local parties, events, or pop-up bars for wedding receptions. It is a dynamic, creative way to spend the day creating both an item to keep forever and the memories that connect with it.
“Scent is key to setting an atmosphere. We try to curate our senses. That is what we do here. So that every candle, whether you made it or we made it, helps you set an atmosphere but doesn't dominate it.”
“This is a creative, family-friendly way to slow down, connect, and make something that’s completely your own.”
A Take-Home Memory
At Heirloom, each creation is more than a candle, but becomes a part of your home, holding memories, conversations, and moments that resurface every time it's lit.