Makers Series: Hearth & Hammer
Location: Batavia, IL | Specialty: Literary Candles
© Hearth & Hammer
I have been known to spend hours on Hearth & Hammer's site and Instagram page, scrolling and scrolling while imagining myself in their cozy Batavia general store. Like right now… I’m supposed to be writing a blog post, but am I? Of course not! It’s much more fun to browse the new things that have arrived in their shop. Hair clips, zero waste essentials, old-school buttermilk pancake mix! Delicious-looking chocolate bars, pretty gold earrings, books you immediately want to curl up with. The list goes on and on…
Hearth & Hammer is owned by husband & wife team Ariane Scholl and Andy Kenney. The goods they carry are products you’ll feel happy about purchasing—made by other small businesses and artisans. What’s more: they create their own candle line to “illuminate literature through aromatic storytelling.” The scents they create bring classics like Walden Woods and The Great Gatsby to life.
Since starting Willinglee, Ariane has been a source of light and inspiration. We’ve reached out to her in the past for help—whether it be questions we had about her candles or curiosity around how she builds such a fantastic library for her shop—she’s always responded so openly and with such kindness. So when she agreed to be featured as one of our makers, we were ecstatic.
Come along with us into the world of this general store gem.
Abby (Willinglee)
Thanks so much for speaking with us! We did a little research and read that you started your candle line before you had your Store. What made you want to start making candles for the general public?
Ariane Scholl (Hearth & Hammer)
We initially started as an vintage goods brand and started making candles for the general public before we attended our first holiday market. One of the scents we originally started with is now our Burning Books candle but back then before we knew they would be literary themed we named it Hearth. It was such a big hit that we sold out on the first night and I had to make more candles that evening. That was the first time I realized that people really love the magic of candles.
Abby
Makes me want to try that one! What did the early days of owning a small business look like for you?
Ariane
Oh goodness, this is fun to look back on. In the very early days we had a vintage booth inside a shop called 715 Vintage in our hometown Batavia, IL. We also sold some vintage paper goods and jewelry on Etsy. I would try different experiments: making candles out of teacups, crafting jewelry out of vintage hardware, lining envelopes with vintage maps. I tried a little bit of everything and put it in our vintage booth and on Etsy. Again, the candles is what folks were drawn to.
At the time I was in a novel writing program at the University of Chicago. One day on the bus I had the idea, why don't I create candles based on books and combine two of my favorite things. That's where our Classic Collection (Burning Books, Walden Woods, & The Green Light) was born. My husband is a designer and was back then as well, so I asked him to design the labels, which are still the labels on our Classic Collection now, minus a few little tweaks here and there.
In the beginning I created all the candles first by heating the wax on the stove in our tiny city apartment and then later in a big 1800's historic home in Batavia we rented with my childhood best friend and her son. It wasn't until a year or so in that I could afford a melter, after we earned a deal with Chicago area Targets through a partnership with Of A Kind. But in order to fill the Target order on time I would melt four pots of candle wax at a time on my stove and filled all the surfaces in our house. It's crazy to look back at that time because we've come such a far way since then.
“I absolutely adore crafting scents. It's a special kind of puzzle to decipher which scents compliment each other the best. It's an added adventure to try and match them to literary themes.”
© Hearth & Hammer
Abby
Holy cow! That’s so cool that you were in Target. Must have been so fun to see them in the store for the first time. In addition to bringing your favorite books to life, do you have any favorite parts of the candle-making process?
Ariane
I absolutely adore crafting scents. It's a special kind of puzzle to decipher which scents compliment each other the best. It's an added adventure to try and match them to literary themes. Usually, I spend some time mixing different scents together from the raw oils and using fragrance blotters to get a sense of the scent. Then I make a tester candle to test the hot throw (how much fragrance a lit candle gives off). Usually, there are few iterations to get the scent perfect. The scent I worked the longest on was Aged Page, it took me about a year to focus on it off and on to get it right. I wanted to make sure it was the right mix of musty book smell to be believable but of course, it also has to smell good so people want to burn it in their homes. I'm the proudest of that one and The Raven, which is our limited edition Edgar Allan Poe scent for the fall.
Abby
What a process. I can’t imagine having the patience for that, but I’m so glad you do, and that you’re able to bring beauty into other people’s homes across the country.
Throughout the pandemic, supply chain issues made it difficult to obtain materials. I saw this across candle companies especially. That must have been really tough — how did y'all handle this?
Ariane
Whew, yes, it definitely presented its challenges and continues to do so — thankfully less so this year. We had to really optimize the space we had to be able to store more raw materials. We ordered in larger bulk than we ever had before because we wanted to make sure we had enough materials on hand to fulfill all of our holiday orders. Thankfully we had data from the previous year so we were able to make educated ordering decisions but we were still filled with a lot of anxiety as we didn't know how 'healthy' our stockist’s businesses were and how much they would be able to order. We also had to get creative. After finding out our black tumblers for our holiday collection were going to be out of stock for the entire holiday season, we had to quickly pivot and redesign the whole collection. Now they are in 11oz clear tumblers with all new labels and matching dust covers, and you know what? I love them 100% more, so you never know when adversity will push you to discover something different.
© Hearth & Hammer
Abby
That’s so true. I’ve found that with Willinglee every now and then too. Let’s chat about the beloved shop! You made the jump to owning Hearth & Hammer General in 2019. What made you want to open a general store like this?
Ariane
I love this question. The goal was always the store. In 2012 when I first started dreaming about owning a store I went to a branch of the Chicago Public Library and checked out books about opening a brick & mortar and running a business. I sat down at my apartment table and read everything I could and started to imagine the possibilities. At the time I started looking at storefronts in Chicago and calculating the cost. I think I had some naive idea like I just needed to save up 5k to open a store and started making a plan for that.
In the process, we started selling vintage goods in a booth of our own at a vintage shop in Batavia called 715 Vintage. From there I got an education on pricing, inventory, the cost of goods, and customer service as we needed to work one day a week at the front counter. I realized I loved working at the front counter. I loved curating our booth and hearing people excited about what we found. During this time I also started making candles which then became our literary candles. Folks specifically came in for our literary candles. They were selling online. We got a limited-time partnership with Chicago-area Targets and started to get our brand name out there.
The candles became the path to open the general store. When we finally outgrew our studio space in 2019 and found an amazing space that could house both the general store and candle studio, with some apprehension and fear we took the leap, and I'm so glad we did. Owning Hearth & Hammer General has been my favorite chapter yet!
© Hearth & Hammer
“The goal was always the store. In 2012 when I first started dreaming about owning a store I went to a branch of the Chicago Public Library and checked out books about opening a brick & mortar and running a business. I sat down at my apartment table and read everything I could and started to imagine the possibilities.”
Abby
So, so cool!! I grew up watching my mom and dad run their Antiques & Home Furnishings business. It’s such humble work and I can totally understand what you mean about loving being there, hearing people’s reactions to what you’ve worked so hard creating.
Did you always know you'd open the General Store in Batavia? What do you love about the area?
Ariane
Andy and I both grew up in Batavia. It's a really special place, one that draws you back after you try to leave. There's so many folks our age that left like we did to move to one city or another and then found themselves back in Batavia. The magic about owning a shop in Batavia is that we are invested in the town. We want to make the store the best it can be to add something special to Batavia. We want to be able to serve the people that live here and to add to the community. Nothing brings me more joy than watching kids come in to spend their allowance on penny candy. I hope one day they will reminisce about buying candy at Hearth & Hammer General with coins they found in the couch cushions the way my brothers and I do about Rainbow Variety, where we bought penny candy as a kid.
Abby
Yes! My brother and I used to do the same where we grew up. I’m sure those kids will hold onto fond memories.
How do you source goods for your store? What types of items do you look for?
Ariane
We care a lot about where we source our goods from and focus on quality-crafted goods. We focus on sourcing our goods from makers like ourselves, folks who produce their own products with care. We know how much work goes into crafting something and there's always a certain amount of magic in those items. It thrills us that we are able to support other makers the way our stockists have supported us over the years.
If we can't find something that is produced by a maker or small business then we source goods from a trusted company. This means they are a company that has a clear supply chain for their high-quality goods and they focus on sustainability. And the last thing we look for is beautiful packaging. We are great lovers of beautiful packaging, but it can't be at the detriment of a terrible product inside. It has to be both beautiful packaging and an incredible product. When those two are married together it is *chef's kiss*
Abby
Agreed :) What's your favorite part about owning Hearth & Hammer? What's the most challenging thing about it?
Ariane
My favorite part is all the amazing people I get to meet. Owning Hearth & Hammer has allowed me to meet so many different people: makers, small business owners, community leaders, activists, neighbors, new friends, and the list goes on. I love hearing people's stories as they shop with us. What they are buying, who they are buying it for. When they bring in family and friends and say, "So and so is visiting from said place and I had to bring them here because it's one of my favorite spots in Batavia." It's those kind of moments that really make all the work worth it.
The most challenging thing about it is the mental space it takes up. I know I'm not alone when I say it often feels like I'm always working. Being the head of a company means when sh*t hits the fan, it’s my number that's on speed dial. Sometimes it's something ridiculous like a chipmunk is stuck in the shop or terrible like water is coming in from the sides of the stores, you just never know where or when you might be needed. Outside of that is the mental space your passion for the business takes up. It's fun to build a brand. It's fun to own a business. It's frankly, fun to dream and think about. But sometimes I worry that I'm not doing a great job separating myself from the work more often and that’s something I'm really trying to work on this year.
“Nothing brings me more joy than watching kids come in to spend their allowance on penny candy. I hope one day they will reminisce about buying candy at Hearth & Hammer General with coins they found in the couch cushions”
© Hearth & Hammer
Abby
It’s a good goal and one I’ve found myself needing to focus on as well. It engulfs you sometimes! I can’t help but chuckle about the chipmunk in the store—oh my gosh.
If you could do it all over, would you do anything differently?
Ariane
If I could do it all over again, I would have the foresight to know 2020 was coming and either open our brick & mortar sooner or slightly later ;) But no, you know what? I would have spent more time figuring out the true cost of our goods early on. Like really sitting down to figure out how much each candle costs to produce instead of mostly basing it off of the price everyone else was selling their products at. I think that's a really important step that a lot of makers don't take the time to do early on because they're just excited to make something people want to buy. But the second you want to pay yourself or hire someone else, those numbers become increasingly important.
Abby
So true. There should be some sort of free business class about that for small shop owners! One last thing: we’d love it if you could tell us about some small businesses that inspire you.
Ariane
Oh goodness, so many!
New Moon Vegan, a vegan bakery here in Batavia. Everyday Jo inspires me with her intentionality and artistry. I am spoiled now and have such high expectations for baked goods.
Stay Forever, a shop in Ridgewood, NY. The owners both have small children and opened the shop when their first children were literally babies. As a mother and small business owner I am in constant awe of what they have been able to accomplish, and now they opened a second store: Stay Forever Young, a children's shop.
And Sunhouse Craft. Cynthia is an incredible artisan of handmade brooms. She renovated an entire storefront and apartment while still maintaining her business. She also has a joyful positive spirit that is simply contagious.
Abby
These are all so lovely! Thank you for sharing, and thank you for spending the time letting us into your world. When Alex and I come back to Chicago to visit my old stomping grounds, I promise we’ll make the drive and stop in!
© Hearth & Hammer
If you didn’t know Hearth & Hammer before, check their site out for a truly enjoyable shopping experience. Better yet, if you live in the IL area, go check them out in person! (And take a detailed video for me please so I can pretend I’m with you!!)
Find more Makers Series on our blog, or shop Hearth & Hammer below.
