Sweet Note Candles brings creativity to the forefront at new Bemidji location

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 1.jpg — William Hines and Miranda Slykhuis recently opened a storefront for their three-year-old business, Sweet Note Candles, at 142 Paul Bunyan Drive NW in Bemidji.

By Dennis Doeden

December 13, 2023 at 7:30 AM

BEMIDJI 鈥� Miranda Slykhuis and William Hines bring complementary skills to their business, Sweet Note Candles, a three-year-old venture that opened a storefront at 142 Paul Bunyan Drive NW last month.

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 3.jpg — Customers can not only shop for Sweet Note Candles at the Bemidji store, they can also sign up for classes to learn how to make candles of their own.

Slykhuis makes the candles, and Hines makes sure potential customers find out about them through marketing and design work.

鈥淲e make a good team,鈥� Hines said. 鈥淚 get you with the eye, she gets you with the nose.鈥�

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 2.jpg — Miranda Slykhuis works on a candle at the Sweet Note Candles store while business partner William Hines looks on.

The couple met in Slykhuis' hometown of Las Vegas. Hines, who is originally from Chicago but moved to Bemidji with his family as a young boy, was visiting Vegas on a business trip.

鈥淲e started dating and traveling back and forth between Vegas and Bemidji,鈥� she said.

Hines added with a laugh, 鈥淲e met on my first trip out there. So what happened in Vegas didn鈥檛 stay in Vegas.鈥�

They moved to Bemidji about three years ago. Hines was self-employed, and at one point Slykhuis was working three jobs. The idea of owning a business had been percolating for some time.

鈥淲illiam asked me what I wanted to do,鈥� Slykhuis said. 鈥淚nitially it鈥檚 really just pulling the trigger. Eventually, I gave all my time to candle making. I finally just found my niche.鈥�

She learned the candle-making business by trial and error.

鈥淚鈥檝e always been very creative and the candles have allowed me to show my creativity,鈥� she said.

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 4.jpg — Sweet Note Candles offers a variety of unique fragrances and designs at their storefront location, along with several other stores in the Bemidji area and online.

The couple started their business slowly about three years ago and spent the first year developing their products and marketing plans.

鈥淲e wanted to make sure we鈥檇 have a safe and effective product,鈥� Hines said. 鈥淲hen you have an open fire in somebody鈥檚 home obviously you want to make sure you have a clean, well-made product.鈥�

Most of their early sales were online, but since that time they have been able to get their candles into stores, including Lueken鈥檚 Village Foods in Bemidji, Bows and Britches in Bagley and Hanson Greenhouse and Floral in Shevlin. A big break came when they teamed with Gertens Garden Center in the Twin Cities. They鈥檙e also not averse to cold-calling businesses in the Bemidji area.

鈥淲e took the online approach for 7-8 months,鈥� Slykhuis said, 鈥渂ut with in-person sales and doing market shows we鈥檝e had a way better response.鈥�

In addition to regular store hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Sweet Note Candles offers a kids 鈥渨ickshop鈥� on Sunday afternoons and special candle-making events. Both are by reservation; call (332) 999-6856 to learn more.

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 6.jpg — Sweet Note Candles is located at 142 Paul Bunyan Drive Northwest in Bemidji.

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 8.jpg — Sweet Note Candles offers a variety of unique and seasonal fragrances and designs.

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 7.jpg — Sweet Note Candles are all made in-house at their storefront located at 142 Paul Bunyan Drive Northwest in Bemidji.

121323.N.BP.CANDLES - 5.jpg — Sweet Note Candles are all made in-house at their storefront located at 142 Paul Bunyan Drive Northwest in Bemidji.

By Dennis Doeden

Dennis Doeden, former publisher of the Bemidji Pioneer, is a feature reporter. He is a graduate of Metropolitan State University with a degree in Communications Management.