Editor’s note: This is part of a series exploring how Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs and small businesses have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and their plans for moving forward.
Maker: David Gin, co-founder
Business: The Cleveland Candle Company
How has your business changed since you reopened?
“We went into all of the stores and had to rearrange a lot of the stuff to make them basically fit to the standard that the state was asking for. So all of our stores are reconfigured to the extent where we can. We’re just trying to do the best we can by following what’s out there."
How have people reacted to the changes?
“Our model is really based on people wanting to come and hang out, so it changes that. I think people that are coming out to the stores are pretty respectful of all the changes and stuff. So right now you can only use like a credit card or Apple Pay. Part of it was just for the sanitary stuff, but then also a lot of the banks aren’t open. So it’s hard for us to go to the bank and get the cash and do all the deposits every single day.”
How have you been staying creative during the shutdown?
“We have an essential oil candle line that we actually introduced during this period that’s really taken off. We introduced that line online. We also created candle melts for warmers and stuff which we had never done before, but since we had time. With online, we’re doing Ten Dollar Tuesdays where we do two scents every Tuesday since COVID happened and we were shutdown. And it’s kind of built a really good following with people going on and seeing what the two new scents are each Tuesday.”
