The COVID-19 lockdowns meant spending a lot more time at home. During the pandemic, Kelsey Williams of Cedar decided to take up a hobby: candle making. Her interest in making candles rapidly developed from a way to pass the time indoors to selling her products to retailers, and now she owns her own store, Leelanau Candle Company, in Cedar.
Part of what makes each of William’s products unique is that they’re themed around specifi c places in the county. Some candles represent well-known locations like Pyramid Point on the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, while others are named after more obscure “hidden beaches” and “secret hiking trails,” Williams said.
Williams said she knows all these locations well, as she’s lived in Cedar for her whole life. And she says that she doesn’t plan on leaving any time soon. Ultimately, Williams says, she opened Leelanau Candle Company to make things that represent a place that she loves.
