DOOR COUNTY, Wis. — Wisconsin candle makers are seeing a surge in sales this year due to COVID-19.

Wisconsin is home to quite a handful of candle makers and it’s a business seeing a boom this year unlike any other. As the seasons begin to change, there is nothing like a good candle to fill your home with a cozy scent.

In Door County, you will find a quaint candle shop called Door County Candle Company. Inside, the smells of hundreds of fresh candles fill your nose. Even hand poured ones, like company owner Mike Felhofer has been making for the past 27 years.

“It takes about eight hours for these candles to fully cool,” Felhofer says.

Over the past seven months candle companies across Wisconsin are seeing a surge in sales.

“We’ve been blessed this year to have a windfall in sales. Candles, especially scented candles seem to be seeing a resurgence,” Felhofer says.

Felhofer says his company has seen a 75 to 80 percent increase in sales since the beginning of summer.

“People are at home more. When the first stay at home orders started going our mail orders went through the roof. People are home, cooped up in their homes and scented candles really added some pleasure to their lives,” Felhofer says.

Meanwhile, in Watertown, Wisconsin, Kari Barnes is seeing a similar trend with her candle business Hat Creek Candle Company.

“We were really surprised but as people were in quarantine we noticed that our sales went up quite a bit. We noticed probably a doubling in sales,” Hat Creek Candle Company founder Kari Barnes says.

Her and her family are working over time to fill candles and orders. Barnes says due to the high demand, many candle makers are seeing issues with having enough supplies to keep up.

“We have some lead time issues. Our best sellers was out for five weeks.  It went from getting it in three or four days to five weeks,” Barnes says.

However, it’s not stopping these Wisconsin based candle makers from filling orders and bringing fresh scents into their customers homes.