WELLSVILLE: Have you heard that Andy and Tina Glanzman sold
their company, Northern Lights Candles, to George Duke, Chairman of Zippo?
Glanzmans are excited, even energized, about the changes that they expect to
range from satisfying to surprising and they see a future with positive changes
impacting not just their lives but also the lives of their employees, present
and future.
In his office, reminiscing about how it started, Andy talked
of a formative experience: watching the Beatles
on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1965. Andy didn’t just sing along with the show or
hold someone’s hand. He saw his future standing there so sold his 10 speed bike
turning that cash into a 1963 Fender bass then taught himself to play it and
began writing songs. He wanted to pursue music though he admits it might have
been because of all those cute, screaming girls. That episode of the Sullivan
Show had a lot of screaming.
In 1971 Andy graduated from Calhoun High School on Long
Island and later that year discovered Allegany County. His friend was invited
to a party in Alfred and asked Andy to ride along with him. He was a city boy
out for a new experience in a cow dotted landscape. The cows were noteworthy as
was the landscape but what really mattered was meeting Tina at that party.
In 1973 Andy moved to Allegany County and spent some hungry
times while performing regularly for tips at the Fassett House Hotel on
weekends. He tried a couple of jobs in the area. One was working at a pheasant
farm in Andover where the task was trimming beaks. Trimming is a benign word
for the operation so Andy escaped from that job. The other job was loading
Christmas Trees at Kent Farms, also not fun.
In 1974, he and Tina were living in an apartment but the
landlord raised the rent beyond their means to $90 a month so they moved into a
tent for a while. Luck was on their side when Bill Hand, an 80 year old in need
of some help sauntered over to the tent. Bill lived in a home without
electricity but was a force of cheerfulness surrounded by several animals
including a pony named Surprise.
Tina and Andy moved in with him for a while and helped him
get along. Their admiration for Bill and his optimism rings still in their
words about him. While living with Bill, they made candles to use at night. In
1975 they sold candles at the Andover Maple Festival and were thrilled when
they earned $200 during the festival. “We ate that weekend,” grinned Andy.
They started going to craft shows and music festivals in a
1957 school bus converted to a camper. The bus had space for candle making as
well as living. They sold candles from Cornell to New Orleans and what they
learned was that wherever they went with candles, people bought them. In early
days, they shared their success by hiring local musician friends to help make
candles. Andy still played guitar and wrote
expressive, sensitive songs, so most of their friends were musicians.
During Christmas, Tina and Andy went to a shopping mall and Tina
saw customers in the hundreds walking through the mall and wondered if people
at a mall would buy candles too. Not long after, Andy designed a push cart, had
it built by a friend in Andover, and was allowed to put it in the open area of
the mall. For two weeks in December they sold candles like mad.
Over the 41 years of
their NL experience, they have tried and failed as well as succeeded. They have
learned and grown, changed and developed and now employ 120 people. This
thriving business occupies 160,000 square feet of manufacturing space in 3
buildings. Ceramic items and fashion glassware pieces are manufactured in China
by the tens of thousands of items but all those thousands are filled with wax
and wicks in Wellsville and then sold around the world.
Their fashion glass items, specialty shapes for candles, are
manufactured overseas because there aren’t any factories in the US that can
produce the shapes in the quantities that are needed. The empty glass is shipped
to Wellsville to be filled with wax.
Several years ago, this little creative force in the world
of candle making caught the attention of larger corporations. Bigger companies
and venture capital groups have been interested in purchasing Northern Lights
for years but the Glanzmans were not willing to sell company unless certain
items on their check lists could be fitted into the agreement.
The jobs had to stay in Wellsville. Over the time, their average employee has
stayed for 20 years and they didn’t want anyone tossed out or forced to move.
They also wanted to see the company grow. Andy feels that instead of employing
120 people, Northern Lights could grow several times larger. It needs the right support to develop overseas
markets, especially in China.
Knowing that their company was desired and reaching the
conclusion that they were ready to sell, they found a lawyer to help them find
the right deal.
The Glanzmans wanted the sale to be a good for them, their
employees and the area. Their 120 employees make candles, candle accessories,
fragrances, diffusers, and aroma sprays. The candle making supplies at Joanne
Fabric stores are produced by Northern Lights. They also make candles for
Yankee and for private label companies like Walgreens. There are items sold
under the Northern Lights label but these are high end products placed in about
4,000 gift shops. For over 40 years the idea has been to constantly reinvest in
the company, to always grow and change and take chances. On January 25, 2019,
Zippo grew to include Northern Lights Candles.
For the foreseeable future, Andy Glanzman will remain the
driving force at NL but as an employee working in tandem with Mark Paup,
Zippo’s CEO. The exciting part is that
Zippo brings the overseas elements that NL needs. The difficult part is
deciding what idea to work on first.
Tina will be wrapping up her time as CFO and retiring. She
isn’t sure who she will be when she isn’t a CFO any longer but she is looking
forward to the discovery and whatever she does it will be with Andy singing to
her along the way.
Selling a business isn’t simple. Zippo is buying all the
trademarks, international trademarks, copyrights, , license agreements and
properties as well as leases for showrooms in Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas,
Seattle, and Minneapolis. The deal, starting with a letter of intent and ending
with the sale, took 8 months to work out. Glanzmans are pleased to be bonded
with Zippo whose headquarters is nearby in Bradford where the company has long
been a valued part of the community. Zippo will keep the manufacturing in
Wellsville and to continue to value the creativity and innovation that NL is
known for.
The question for further development for Northern Lights
Candles isn’t what can we do but what will we do first. Tina will be wrapping up her time as CFO and retiring. She
isn’t sure who she will be when she isn’t a CFO any longer but she is looking
forward to the discovery and whatever she does it will be with Andy singing to
her along the way.
Selling a business isn’t simple. Zippo is buying all the
trademarks, international trademarks, copyrights, , license agreements and
properties as well as leases for showrooms in Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas,
Seattle, and Minneapolis. The deal, starting with a letter of intent and ending
with the sale, took 8 months to work out. Glanzmans are pleased to be bonded
with Zippo whose headquarters is nearby in Bradford where the company has long
been a valued part of the community. Zippo will keep the manufacturing in
Wellsville and to continue to value the creativity and innovation that NL is
known for.
Learn more about Andy's project, the Fassett GreenSpace Project here: https://artforruralamerica.wixsite.com/afra/green-space
The products made at Northern Lights Candles are here: https://northernlightscandles.com/
You can see an image of Bill on this page https://northernlightscandles.com/pages/inside-story
You can see an image of Bill on this page https://northernlightscandles.com/pages/inside-story
