Illume Candles will cease manufacturing at its Maple Grove headquarters and lay off 132 people, the company announced.
The candlemaker notified state officials Monday of its plan to close the plant in waves, starting Dec. 1. The company will end all manufacturing by February. Ceasing customer order fulfillment on or around April 1 next year will follow, according to a company spokesman.
“This move was necessitated by deteriorating overall business conditions, including reduced demand from our contract-fill customers, coupled with a challenging and uncertain cost environment,” the company said in a Tuesday news release.
Illume Candles will now outsource its manufacturing, which moved to Maple Grove seven years ago, to “alternative domestic” partners, per a company spokesman. Parent company Creative Co-Op will now market and sell Illume products.
Creative Co-Op will absorb approximately 10 employees from the Maple Grove operations, the spokesman said.
The company started in the Twin Cities in 1944 as Starlight Candles. Starlight later merged with California-based Illume Candles, though its leadership remained in the Twin Cities.
Illume Candles consolidated its operations into a 288,000-square-foot Maple Grove facility in 2018, reported at the time as a $10.6 million investment that would add 85 new jobs. The company previously headquartered in Bloomington.
A $175,000 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development grant supported the project as part of the Job Creation Fund, which former Governor Mark Dayton launched in 2014.
The company also received a $450,000 loan from the Minnesota Investment Fund, which designated financing for manufacturing and technology companies based on the creation and retention of high-quality jobs.
Patina, Whole Foods and other independent retailers in the Twin Cities will continue to sell Illume products, the company spokesman confirmed.
Parent company Creative Co-Op will now market and sell the products, which will still be available at Twin Cities retailers like Patina and Whole Foods.
