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Sisters Jillian Barrett and Jenna Graf recently opened BeeKind, a candle company and store that sells products from other local businesses.

At the beginning of the year, the two Syracuse natives began experimenting with making candles and decided they would be fun to sell, Barrett said. Once they found a storefront in Tipperary Hill, where they grew up, Barrett and Graf started to open the store in May. But due to COVID-19, they delayed the opening to Sept. 26.

Graf and her sister decided to open their store in Tipperary Hill because they want to help the community they spent their childhood in.

BeeKind began with local deliveries and shipping before the physical storefront in Tipperary Hill opened, and the business took off from there, Barrett said. With the candle business doing well, the sister duo decided to sell products from other local businesses.

BeeKind is a sustainable candle company and also sells products from other local businesses. Micaela Warren | Contributing Photographer

“We want to do more than just candles in the store, so we thought it would be great to have other local products and support other people like us that are trying to grow their brand,” Barrett said.

The delayed opening of the store gave them time to figure out licensing and logistics, as well as which candles they wanted to make and the vendors they wanted to work with.

So far, BeeKind sells products from local stores ranging from dog treats to beauty products. The brands BeeKind works with currently include Dutch Hill Maple, Syracuse Salt and Syracuse Soapworks. Graf and Barrett also hope to continue to bring more local businesses and artists to the store.

BeeKind’s candles are made from 100% soy that is grown in the U.S., which is a natural alternative to paraffin candles, Barrett said.

Steven, Graf’s husband, said that opening the store has been a dream of his wife and sister-in-law, so it’s been great to see it finally come true. For him, watching Graf and Barrett putting in so much hard work to bring their business to life has been inspiring.

“It’s been very inspiring. It’s great to see, especially two sisters just kind of independently going for it and making it happen,” Steven said.

Neither Barrett nor Graf has experience specifically with running their own business. But as an assistant manager at the gift shop at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Graf is familiar with handling money and inventory, and Barrett has experience in sales and retail. Both of their past experiences help, though Graf said they’re still learning and doing research when it comes to owning a business.

The opening of the store was a success, Barrett said, and people from Tipperary Hill came out to show their support.

Jillian Barrett and Jenna Graf decided to open BeeKind in Tipperary Hill because they want to help the community they spent their childhood in. Courtesy of Jillian Barrett

Now, the sisters are continuing to work on publicizing their store to increase business. Word-of-mouth from people who have already purchased products has helped, but Graf said that they’ve been focusing on using social media to spread the word.

As for the future, Steven hopes to see the store grow and become more profitable. He would love to see BeeKind possibly open up bigger locations if that is what his wife and sister-in-law want for their store.

Barrett said that she and Graf want to become part of the Tipperary Hill and greater Syracuse community and participate in the neighborhood’s activities.

“We want to be involved in and reach our community, and grow our business and become kind of a staple on Tipp Hill,” Barrett said.

Published on October 4, 2020 at 11:44 pm

Contact Gavi: [email protected] | @gavi_azoff