Yankee Candle is going luxury with a new line of candles that’s designed to be upsold.
The Massachusetts-based candle company launched the Yankee Candle YC Collection this week, a line of seven fragrances designed by Beardwood&Co., the New York City branding agency behind the July redesign of the company’s packaging.
With a curved glass jar, white wax, and metallic lids that show a new “YC” monogram adapted from the original Yankee Candle logo, the candles are minimally designed. Each box comes with watercolor artwork by illustrator Carly Martin that’s inspired by the look of an artist’s fragrance sketchbook, according to the company. The new premium line sells for $45 for a 12 oz. candle and $32 for a 7 oz. Compare that to $20.99 the brand charges now charges for candles between 20 oz. and 22 oz.
“Launching a new premium collection allows Yankee Candle to answer a desire for how a new generation of fragrance lovers combines scent and home decor to express themselves,” Beardwood&Co. co-CEO Sarah Williams tells Fast Company. “Ensuring this new line felt luxurious and display-worthy was the real benchmark for launch.”
The YC Collection include the peach-scented Nectar and Amber, which mixes tobacco leaf with honeyed cacao and amber woods. Online, each candle also names the perfumer who crafted the scent, giving the line some artisan attribution that helps elevate its perceived craftsmanship.
“We worked with expert perfumers trained in the tradition of fine fragrance to craft a collection that feels as intentional and curated as the poems it lives in,” Aaron Swart, the general manager of home fragrance for Yankee Candle’s parent company Newell Brands, said in a statement.
Together, that means Yankee Candle can charge more. The new line comes as Newell Brands, which also owns brands like Sharpie and Expo, looks to improve Yankee Candle sales as lower-income and younger consumers pull back and the company’s overall net sales fell 7.2% year over year. Already, it’s tweaked the look of its candles.
It’s new candle packaging rolled out this summer uses bigger images, plus the claim “room-filling fragrances” and “Est. 1969” above the logo. Beardwood&Co. says the new design has increased intent to purchase compared to the old design, and now the new candles were designed to reach new consumers. The luxury candle market is growing and the top 10% of earners make up a growing share of consumer spending, so they’re going after consumers willing to pay a bit more.
While this premium line is offered at a higher price point for Yankee Candle, it’s still more candle for your buck than Diptyque Paris, which sells 2.5 oz. candles for $48, and cheaper still than Le Labo candles, which can cost as much as $90.
That gives Yankee Candle a more moderately priced premium product at a time when inflation remains persistent, so higher-income consumers can trade down for a candle that still looks high-end while other consumers can splurge on a budget.
As Yankee Candle looks to grow its sales, the YC Collection could boost its higher-margin sales and help the brand endear itself to younger consumers and luxury candle fans.
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