It’s Lights Out for candles merchant Illuminations. Parent company Yankee Holding Corp., which also owns the Yankee Candle Co., is shutting down the Illuminations retail stores and consumer direct business.
Under the restructuring plan, about 330 employees (full, part-time and seasonal) will be laid off, including about 310 store employees and field personnel in the Illuminations division; 10 workers in one Yankee Candle store to be closed; and around 12 people based in the corporate headquarters.
But Yankee Candle chairman/CEO Craig Rydin said in a statement that the 13-year-old Illuminations brand “remains an important strategic asset and component of our product portfolio.” The company plans to “continue to develop and market Illuminations-branded products, primarily through our core wholesale business,” he said.
Both Yankee Candle and Illuminations sell scented candles and related home decor items to resellers, as well as to consumers, via stores, catalogs and the Internet. Yankee Candle acquired Illuminations in July 2006 in a $22 million cash deal.