In an age of globalization, there are many brands that treat rapid expansion as a commercial imperative. And then there are companies like Cire Trudon, founded in Paris in 1643. The iconic French candle manufacturer has just taken a grand total of 126 years to open its second store. But then a firm that received its royal appointment in 1719 is probably inclined to operate with a long business horizon. Napoleon Bonaparte may well have been wanting some of the longevity to rub off when he presented his son with a Cire Trudon candle upon his birth in 1810.
New York City's NoHo district is the location chosen for Cire Trudon's first retail venture outside its homeland. The Bond Street shop is studded with stucco and laden with French-made gilded mirrors, but there's a strong American flavor, too, thanks to furnishings handmade by the Pennsylvania Amish. Aside from the classic church and table candles, there are new products, like fragrance-filled glass vials, pictured, that perfume a room when broken on the floor and kid-friendly boxed sets that include a candle, room spray and fairy-tale book. Creative director Ramdane Touhami says the New York shop is the beginning of small-scale empire building. Next up is a London branch — uncharacteristically, they plan to open it next year and not another century hence. See ciretrudon.com for more.