Candle fans bid to relight fire of their favourite store

WH 170115 Rally in support of Yankee Candle, Guildbourne Centre, Worthing. Photo by Derek Martin SUS-150117-123729001

Thousands took to social media to lend their support to saving Yankee Candle, in Worthing town centre, and devoted fans gathered for shopping sprees over the weekend.

They also pledged to hold a candlelight vigil outside the store if their campaign was snuffed out.

Lead campaigner Adam Terry, 31, from Lancing, who spent between £150 and £200 in the spree alongside wife Claire, said: “There is nothing like it nearby, the closest is Ashford. We  even have people come here from London.

“Sure, there are smaller ranges in other shops but this is a unique experience and the staff give a really good service, helping to source unusual ones.”

Adam discovered the shop was closing through a family friend and decided to set up a Facebook page in an attempt to save it.

But its popularity took him by surprise, as 500 people ‘liked’ the page in the first night alone – with the figure growing to more than 2,600 within a week.

He said: “If you have done all the hoovering and housework it smells amazing and clean, Yankee Candles take it to the next level and makes it smell really nice and makes you feel comfortable.

“I prefer them to the plug-in air fresheners, which scare the cat when it goes off as it walks past.”

Fellow campaigner Katie  Kirk, 25, of The Dell, Angmering, said it was the ‘try before you buy’ opportunity that set the store apart.

She said: “The other outlets, such a garden centres and card shops, only offer a teeny range of the fragrances, do not provide loyalty points or rarely any other offers and are often difficult for me as a wheelchair user to get into.

In response, a spokesman for Yankee Candle said: “We regularly review the performance of our store portfolio, and in this instance have had to resort to closing the Worthing store as we believe this is a necessary decision at this time.

“Closing a store is never easy and we don’t arrive at this decision without a great deal of thought and consideration about the impact this will have on our employees, our customers and our business.”

The store will close on February 1, with other stores stocking small ranges.