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Not all candles need to smell like a vague pastoral landscape intended to bring up abstract emotions \u2014 some just smell like roasted nuts.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the idea behind Literie, a candle company behind very specific scents. Its first batch of candles were intended to encapsulate New York City. They included one that smells like the hot roasted nut carts littering Manhattan\u2019s streetscape and another that tries to capture the aromas of bodega coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis brand is more about the names of the scents,\u201d said founder and CEO Erica Werber. \u201cIt\u2019s not a fragrance company where you\u2019re trying to develop these notes and become the signature scent of someone\u2019s home. It really is about what is this scent or what is this name bringing into my life?\u201d<\/p>\n
Werber joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the company\u2019s growth. It first launched in 2021 with its five New York-centric scents, and has expanded into other areas like a New England candle that mimics the sea breeze and saltwater. Literie has also built a successful partnership engine, with high-profile collaborations with The Real Housewives of New York and the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n
Literie first began as a side project during the pandemic, but the products became popular very quickly. And as soon as her very specifically scented candles went viral, retailers came knocking. For example, Macy\u2019s reached out to Literie about purchasing a wholesale order.<\/p>\n
This moment, said Werber, was when she realized Literie was going to become a full-time job. When the order first came in, she said, \u201cI really thought that I could have my manufacturer develop these, ship them to me and I would throw them in my car and drive them to Macy\u2019s.\u201d Of course, that\u2019s not how retail works. And so, Literie had to find a warehouse to fulfill the growing number of orders. \u201cAt that point, I was like if we\u2019re going to start investing just to do this Macy\u2019s order, then we have to really work to make this investment worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years in, Literie is continuing to grow and expanding its retail footprint. And it\u2019s also open to bringing on new brand partnerships. But, according to Werber, even though the brand is still a startup she does have some hard rules.<\/p>\n
For one, all partnerships must include the Literie name. \u201cI don\u2019t need to put the time and effort into something that isn\u2019t going to get people to come back to my website or give us more name recognition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Here are a few highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.<\/p>\n
When Werber realized she needed to be prepared for retail expansion<\/strong> How Literie inked its first partnerships<\/strong> \u2018I\u2019m not a manufacturer\u2019<\/strong>
\u201cWhen we got that first big retail order, it had come from Macy\u2019s, I think they had wanted to purchase 10,000 candles. The amount of backend work that has to happen for you to ship product to Macy\u2019s is unimaginable. I really thought that I could have my manufacturer develop these, ship them to me and I would throw them in my car and drive them to Macy\u2019s. That\u2019s genuinely what I thought the process would be. And I think once we realized we had to invest in these back-end programs, now we need a warehouse \u2014 we were shipping these products out of my mother\u2019s garage up until that point \u2014 it was like, \u2018Ok, we need people involved to help us do this.\u2019 At that point, I was like if we\u2019re going to start investing just to do this Macy\u2019s order, then we have to really work to to make this investment worth it. If we need to get a warehouse, then that warehouse should be holding lots of inventory. And if we\u2019re investing in these systems, then we should have other retailers [be] a part of that system as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was actually no intention of ever doing licensing for this brand. The Real Housewives [partnership] came about because their head of licensing happened to see a post about the brand in my LinkedIn feed. We weren\u2019t even connected and it was just [that] she opened her feed and\u2026 maybe it was a New York Post article or something. And she had reached out and said, \u2018We\u2019ve been wanting to do candles, we haven\u2019t figured out the way to do it. Is that something you\u2019d want to partner on?\u2019 The U.S. Open was genuinely me playing tennis one day and my tennis partner saying you should make a U.S. Open candle. And I found out who their head of merchandising is and sent them an email. And it was the same response: \u2018Yes, we\u2019ve always wanted to do a candle. We haven\u2019t figured out how to do it yet.\u2019 So most of these partnerships were either inbound or just an easy email away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t do [a brand partnership] without our brand name [on the product]. I won\u2019t name names, but we had an opportunity last year, which would have been huge for us. And, really, it came down to when we provided them with the designs, they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, this is great, but we want to take Literie off of it.\u2019 And at that point, I\u2019m not a manufacturer. So if you just want to make your own candles then I\u2019m happy to move you along. But I don\u2019t need to put the time and effort into something that isn\u2019t going to get people to come back to my website or give us more name recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n