UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, May 3, 1994
5B
He's the Waxman
Candlemaker Bob Werts has turned his love of candles into a thriving business
By Marne Minks Special to the Kansan
They call him the Waxman.
Bob Werts, owner of Waxman Candles, 609 Massachusetts St., stands amid dozens of shelves holding dyes, metal tools and wax. Werts, dressed in blue jeans and a navy T-shirt with his long gray hair pulled into a pony tail, slowly picks up a medium-sized metal pitcher full to the brim with hot wax and begins to pour it into orange rubber molds. In one hour, the molds will be refilled, a wick will be inserted, and the molds will be dipped in a rainbow of colors and placed on a shelf for customers to buy.
Werts, a native of Johnson City, N.Y., has been making and selling candles in Lawrence since 1971. He originally came to KU with the intention of becoming an education major. However, in his last few semesters, a sudden interest in business changed his plans for the future. But Werts lacked both money to support himself through more years of schooling and a desire to change majors.
"I didn't want to change so I dropped out of school," he said. He opened his store a few months later.
Werts' love for candles began as a child living in New York.
"I unknowingly became interested in them because my mother was always burning them around the house," he said.
When the popularity of candles increased in the late 1960s, Werts began making them in his college apartment. A roommate noticed the new hobby his friend had developed and began calling him the Waxman. The nickname stuck.
His creativity radiates from the tall wooden shelves and tables surrounding the store. Designs of coyotes, sunflowers, musical notes and clown faces appear in bright reds, blues and greens. Small tin cans hold dozens of miniature candles, which give off fragrances of cinnamon, pina cola and hazelnut.
"I have spent hours just looking at all the wonderful candles that are created in this store," said Megan Mitchell, Lawrence resident.
Some of Werts' first designs were straight colored and layered candles. Later, he invented fun chunk candles, which originally were the
first to have fragrance — the aroma of tutti-frutti.
Other offbeat designs include floating cinnamon sticks, layered scented candles and silhouette candles, which first burn through the center and then can be used as a holder.
Werts said he never attended a candle school or apprenticed at a candle factory.
"I just learned how to do it," he said.
This same kind of learning experience has carried over to his store and employees.
"I learned more working here than in college," said Tom Boyd, an employee of the store.
Boyd said Werts had taught him not only business tactics, such as pricing, but also let him in on new ideas and decisions that were taking place in the store.
"It has been a successful store because it allows people to learn a lot about business," Werts said.
Boyd recently opened his own glass blowing business and gives much credit to Werts for teaching him all that he knows about running a shop.
Werts gives employees freedom to add their own ideas and creativity to the store. He not only buys new candle designs and holders that employees have created, but also those of outside artists.
"It's like he's passing on the good vibes that he's experienced by helping other artists," said Loni Hosking, an employee.
Werts said he had experienced hard times in the candle business and thought of quitting, but his decision to stay has opened new doors. Werts moved his store from 1405 Massachusetts St. to the larger store in October. The decision to change locations stemmed from a desire to own his own building and take care of his family. Werts and his wife, Deb, have three children: Melanie, seven; Ryder, four; and Mitchell, three. Werts said he wanted to raise his children in Lawrence.
He said he hadn't spoken to the college roommate who nicknamed him the Waxman for many years. If only he knew what that hobby had turned into and what a success his friend had become.
Brian Vandervliet / KANSAN
Above: Bob Werts, owner of Waxman Candles, uses a rack of round-shaped votive molds to make up 600 candles a day. He said that the votive candles are the backbone of his business.
Brian Vandervliet / KANSAN
Left: A batch of eyeball candles dry after being dipped in floor wax to give them a shine. The candles must dry for 24 hours before they are ready to be sold.
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