Plaristo of Rye has reopened on the High Street, offering its beautiful candles and natural-scented wax products. This family business, founded thirteen years ago in Rye, is undergoing a generational transition from parents Nick and Silvia to their daughters, Jennifer and Christiana.
Nick and Silvia spent their careers with a large international charity focused on community care, which included arts, crafts, therapy, and work facilities for people with different abilities and mental health issues. "After nearly forty years, we wanted a change and to build something for our family,” says Silvia. “Christiana was involved from the start, while Jennifer gained valuable experience working for various businesses in Rye. Both have young families, and we will continue to help while the children are small,” she added.
Plaristo partners with the German candle company Kerzenfarm, known for their high-quality dinner candles. "Our business was flourishing, but Brexit was a huge blow. We knew that we needed to start making our own products to survive. It is no small task to produce high-quality dinner candles from scratch. And then came the pandemic."
At the start of the pandemic, Plaristo closed their shop in the High Street and it has used the intervening time to focus on developing their online business and handmade candle range. These candles, available in beeswax or purified paraffin wax, come in a variety of sizes and colours. Plaristo continues to sell the popular German candles, also to retailers across the UK. Which colours are most popular? “It’s seasonal," says Silvia, "but pastel rose, sage, and ivory trend all year round."
Plaristo now takes commissions for handmade candles. "A bride recently called us searching for 100 extra-tall dinner candles in a very specific shade of peach for her wedding. We pulled it off, but I never knew that there are so many shades of peach!" Silvia remarked.
The current pop-up shop will be open until the end of the year, during which time Plaristo will look for a larger, permanent town-centre location to resume their popular candle-making classes.
