Nothing can take us back to a particular point in our memories, set a mood, or brighten a space quite like scent. A warm lit candle spreading the smell of cookies through the air truly makes a home feel clean and cozy and ready for the season! When shopping for the perfect scents for your home, and for holiday gifts, one woman in Downtown Frostburg has everything you need.
Tammi Becker is a mom, wife, software developer, and a small business owner in Frostburg. In 2015 Tammi began experimenting with making candles for friends and family. Her passion for the scents, process, and watching people light up as they fell in love with a new scent inspired her to start Mountain City Candle Co. in 2018.
Throughout the years, Tammi has added scents, jar sizes, and her displays at local vendor shows, including Arts Walks and Small Business Saturday, have created a truly personalized experience in finding the perfect scent for you. “It’s all a learning experience, try something and see if it takes off. It’s just so much fun” says Tammi of her fast growing company and fanbase.
The Mountain City Candle Co. brand candles are all 100% soy wax and hand poured. They can be found in Frostburg at Mountain City Traditional Arts, Gladstone Mercantile, Savage Mountain Firearms, and in the Home Before Dawn pop-up shop in Cumberland.
However, where Tammi has been able to greatly expand her products and reach is by creating candles that are branded by local businesses and sold under their umbrellas. The first candles created for a local business were created for Gladstone Mercantile and showcase Toasted Goat wine labels and Route 40 Brewing & Distillery shot glass candles.
Since then, Tammi has created a cookie dough candle sold under Spectrum Designs, LLC, two specialty candles for Savage Mountain Firearms including scents such as “tobacco & leather” and “handguns & holsters,” and an earthy scent for Home Before Dawn. The candles that are personalized to each business reach a whole different audience and help to encourage growth for Tammi’s not so small candle company.
In addition to candles, Tammi creates 100% soy wax tarts for electric and tea light melters, air fresheners in a variety of shapes, and, most recently, room and body sprays. All of her creations can be purchased in any of her offered scents and she tests and offers new scents weekly. Special three wicks candles and other items can be special ordered on her website at mtncitycandles.com.
Next on Tammi’s long list of goals to grow her business in 2022 is to experiment with new candle sizes, jar styles, and logos on air fresheners.
When choosing from the nearly 60 regular and specialty scents that Mountain City Candle Co. offers Tammi recommends her personal all time favorite, “tobacco and bay leaf,” as it is “the most unique scent” she offers. Her bestseller is “black raspberry vanilla,” but this time of year is “Christmas tree.” Find these scents and so much more at mtncitycandles.com and follow her on Facebook and Instagram!
Mountain City Candle Co. is quickly becoming a household name in Western Maryland and not only offers beautiful handcrafted products, but also is an inspiration to other small businesses looking to grow and connect with other business owners in their local community.
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Dana Bridges
FrostburgFirst Events & Promotions Coordinator
December 2021
