Williamsburg Soap and Candle Factory

The Williamsburg Soap and Candle Company, known to millions as just the "candle factory", was located in the Norge section of James City County, Virginia

James City County, Virginia

James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...

and first opened in 1965. It was located near the Williamsburg Pottery Factory

Williamsburg Pottery Factory

Williamsburg Pottery Factory is a large, multi-structure retail outlet store located in Lightfoot, Virginia, about west of Williamsburg. The Williamsburg Pottery Factory markets itself as one of Virginia's largest tourist attractions. Referred to by the locals as "the Pottery", the attraction...

and was a local icon and popular tourist attraction on the road to Williamsburg. It was founded by John Barnett, Sr., who moved a barn

Barn

A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...

from a nearby farm

Farm

A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

and made it the first building of a complex which contained the manufacturing plant, numerous shops, and a restaurant. The factory was famous for making quality soap

Soap

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

and candle

Candle

A candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...

s.

At one time, the Williamsburg Candle Soap and Candle Co. was a major supplier of candles around the world both under their label as well as private label candles for companies such as Estee Lauder, Pottery Barn and others. They were known for their fine quality candles that were dripless and clean burning. All of its candles were made at the on-site manufacturing plant, and all of the candle-making equipment were designed and built by its owners and employees. Customers could view the products being made through a glass window in the store; and were allowed to dip their own candles.

Williamsburg Soap and Candle Company suffered greatly from the drop in tourism after 9/11/01 and from the pressure of cheap Chinese imports. These and other factors ultimately led to its closure in 2005. The company assets were sold at auction. Much of their equipment was purchased by Buyacandle.com. The land was sold to a local developer. The Candle Factory Restaurant remained, and renamed itself the Candle Light Restaurant. A few new stores moved into the vacant factory store fronts but never prospered. The restaurant, along with most of the shops, were forced to close because the space was bought by a large store of a pharmaceutical chain in 2008.

In 2011, the entire right side of the complex was demolished to make room for the new building. The left side of the complex, which includes the original barn, remain. On June 30, 2011, the Candle Light Restaurant reopened on the remaining side.

Further reading