Candles are BIG BUSINESS ! 

Just ask the founder of Yankee Candle Mike Kittredge

 Yankee Candle is the nation's leading designer and manufacturer of premium scented candles. In addition, they also sell home decor products and bath lines including fragrances and sprays.

Products are sold through 385 retail stores in 42 states and a wholesale network of 17,250 locations. Additional sales come from catalogs, the Yankee Candle Internet website and wholesale distributors in Europe with 2,340 store locations.

As of 2005 total sales were $601.1 million. Net income was $78.1 million.

The company's flagship store in Western Massachusetts is the world's largest candle store with over 160 scents. It is located in South Deerfield, MA.

Yankee Candle began in 1969 when 16-year old Mike Kittredge made his first candle with melted crayons - a Christmas gift for his mother - in his family home in South Hadley, MA. Family, friends and neighbors raved about Mike's candles and kept buying them as fast as he could make them.

Operating first out of his parent's home, then in an abandoned mill building in Holyoke, MA, and later in nearby South Deerfield and Whately, Mike's early hobby grew into the Yankee Candle Company, the nation's premiere scented candle designer, manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer.

In 1989, Yankee Candle opened its first mall location and continued to expand. The company went public on the NYSE in 1999.

What are some common abbreviations I see on Ebay alongside the listings?

 HTF- Hard To Find

VHTF - Very Hard To Find

 NLA- No Longer Available 

NORES - No Reserve

RET- Retired 

LED- Limited Edition 

SED- Special Edition

NIB - New In Box