Upon entering the new Fuse Candle Bar in downtown Eudora, the nose is greeted with all the citrusy fragrances the shop has to offer.
As part-time respiratory therapists, owners Emily and Mike Young are used to working with many of these smells, but that doesn’t take away from their desire to bring a new experience to Eudora.
“We really want the bar itself to be the candle-making experience. So something that families or couples, loved ones can come in and do something together and take something home that they did together,” Mike Young said. “Something you can remember, you know, ‘Oh, I did that in Eudora on Main Street. I remember going there.’”
After having their grand opening June 1 at 714 Main St., Emily Young said she has been blown away by the support the shop has received from the community and surrounding local businesses.
“It’s just like, really, I’ve been welcomed with open arms, which is amazing. I was concerned, since I’m not local, how people would receive that, and so far, so good. It’s been great,” said Emily Young, who is from Overland Park.
She and her husband started making candles together as a way to get their minds off things after working in the hospital during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She then started giving some of her candles to friends, which is when things started to take off.
“Then one of my friends asked me, ‘Hey, can I buy one of those? I wanted one for my mom.’ You want to buy one of the candles that I made in my kitchen?” she said. “So I started selling them to my friends and, the next thing I knew, their friends were calling me and the network just started growing.”
Emily Young started by hosting traveling candle parties, but said it was a hassle hauling around everything she needed to make the candles.
However, because of her network of friends supporting her candle making, one of her friends introduced her to Eudorable Home owner Courtney Gebauer. Young said her friend talked to Gebauer about selling the candles at Eudorable Home.
Emily Young said Gebauer was hesitant to bring in another candle maker as a vendor, but Young gave her a few to sell just to start.
When Young’s products started to sell, Gebauer could tell Young had a special product.
“She has the best smelling candles ever,” Gebauer said. “They are different from any of the other candles you can buy in a store. They’re amazing.”
Emily Young said she told Gebauer that she would love to have her own space, which is when Young and Gebauer met with GW Weld about renting the space next door to Eudorable Home. Young said Weld was into the idea of bringing the candle bar to downtown.
“I called my husband, I was like, ‘Hey, you got to get down here. I don’t know what just happened, but I think we may be renting this space,’” she said. “And so we thought about it and we were like, ‘You know, this is a really good opportunity.’ So here we are.”
Mike Young said it didn’t take long to get the plan in motion as the space did not need much construction work other than some aesthetics. As a general contractor as well, Mike Young said he built everything the bar needed.
Now up and running with six employees, Fuse Candle Bar offers a wide variety of services, including custom order candles and walk-in candle making.
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.
Emily Young said Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are reserved for larger group events. For example, she hosted a “mom’s night out” for a group Monday night. They have also received requests from church groups and book clubs to host meetings at the candle bar.
Those interested in having an event at the candle bar can contact the Youngs through the shop’s interactive website or call the store at (913) 488-6478.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected].
