News

I just read that Painted Tree Boutiques is closing all locations.

It’s a tough headline for the crafting community. A lot of makers had product in those stores. A lot of small businesses were counting on that exposure.

But if I’m being honest… I’m not surprised.

A few years ago, I was accepted as a vendor. I looked at the model, ran the numbers, and walked away. Something about it didn’t sit right.

Not emotionally—mathematically.

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The Model Looked Good… Until You Looked Closer

On the surface, it’s a great pitch:

• Your own retail space
• Built-in foot traffic
• A community of makers

Sounds like a dream for a small brand.

But when I dug into it, I realized something important:

The real customer wasn’t the shopper. It was the vendor.

Revenue came from:

• Monthly booth rent
• Commissions on sales
• Constant onboarding of new vendors

That’s not retail. That’s a churn machine.

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Fixed Costs + Unpredictable Sales = Problem

As a maker, you’re taking on:

• Hundreds in monthly rent
• Inventory you have to front
• Time spent stocking and maintaining a space

With zero guarantee of sales.

That’s a dangerous setup.

At Gorilla Candles, I run lean:

• Small batches
• Shared fragrance oils across products
• Tight control over inventory

That kind of discipline doesn’t mix well with a system where:

• product sits
• trends move on
• and you’re locked into a physical footprint

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You Lose Control of Your Brand

Another issue: presentation.

When you sell online or wholesale, you control:

• how your product is displayed
• how your story is told
• how customers experience your brand

In a vendor mall, you’re one booth in a sea of booths.

Some look great. Some don’t.

That inconsistency matters more than people think.

Because now your brand isn’t just competing on product—
it’s competing on environment.

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Why Bankruptcy Actually Makes Sense

At first glance, I assumed they’d just start closing locations over time.

But bankruptcy makes sense when you think about it:

• Long-term commercial leases
• Buildout costs
• Staffing and overhead
• Declining vendor retention

Once vendors start leaving, the whole thing unravels fast.

Empty booths lead to:

• a worse shopping experience
• fewer customers
• even more vendor churn

That’s a hard cycle to break.

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The Vendor Burnout Loop

I’ve seen this pattern before:

1. Vendor joins—excited
2. Pays rent—stocks booth
3. Sales don’t match expectations
4. Discounts to move product
5. Gets frustrated
6. Leaves

Repeat that a few hundred times and the model starts to crack.

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This Isn’t About Brick-and-Mortar Being Dead

Let’s be clear—this isn’t a “retail is dead” post.

Retail works.

But how you enter retail matters.

What has worked for me:

• Museum gift shops
• Automotive and niche retailers
• Curated wholesale accounts
• Places where people go to actually buy

Not just browse.

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The Takeaway

I hate seeing small businesses get caught in something like this.

Because most vendors didn’t fail.

They were put into a system where the math didn’t work in their favor.

For me, this was a reminder of something I’ve learned the hard way:

Control matters more than exposure.

I’d rather grow slower—
with better margins,
better inventory control,
and a clear brand—

than gamble on foot traffic I don’t control.

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Final Thought

I feel for every maker affected by this.

But if you’re one of them, this isn’t the end—it’s a reset.

Take what you learned:

• what sold
• what didn’t
• what customers actually responded to

And rebuild in a way that works for you.

Because at the end of the day:

A good product in the right system will always win.

From birthday dinners and anniversaries to quiet Sunday mornings or post-work decompression, candles create atmosphere.

Let’s be honest: everyone wants to relax. And lighting a candle does just that.

We get this question a lot:
“How much space does one of your 8 oz candles actually scent?”

Short answer? More than you'd think.
Long answer? Buckle up.