When he looks across the factory floor as the day’s bustle of candle making processes ramp up, he sees customers talking over cups of coffee. Some are having a bite to eat. The sound of the barista’s coffee grinder mixes in with their conversations. The space is big, yet cozy. It’s industrious and chill. It’s a scene Bluecorn Beeswax founder Jon Kornbluh dreamed of creating.

“I have always paid attention and appreciated great spaces, whether they are retail stores, coffee shops or restaurants,” Kornbluh explains. “I’ve dreamed about creating that space, and I think we pulled it off.”

Located at 1842 S. Townsend Ave. in Montrose, the building that once housed the Furniture Connection is now the headquarters of Bluecorn Beeswax. The beautifully renovated building provides the factory space needed to manufacture the company’s successful line of beeswax candles and simple living products. It also provides a relaxed setting for the Bluecorn Café & Mercantile, where one can sip a specialty coffee drink and enjoy a breakfast burrito or a lunchtime sandwich with views of the candle production line. The café area doubles as a retail space for Bluecorn candles, as well as other products that fit into Bluecorn’s simple living style.

Until early 2020, Kornbluh and the candle business mainly focused on customer-to-customer website sales. After nearly 30 years of producing and selling candles, he asked himself if he had the energy to continue on. As he prepared to sell Bluecorn Beeswax, people around the world became more homebound due to the COVID pandemic, and the beeswax candle business, surprisingly, received an uptick in sales. Partnering with investors, Kornbluh found new energy and a new vision to expand from the already cramped facility in Ridgway to a new Montrose location.

“This is fascinating,” he says. “When we looked for a new space, there were no warehouse spaces available in Montrose. This building was really our only option, and it ended up being perfect in so many ways. We weren’t necessarily focused on a front-facing retail café, but there are 35,000 vehicles driving by here every day. It gave us the opportunity to make our headquarters a special location that has a positive impact on Montrose and the brand. We knew this could be an elevated community space, so we went for it.”

The manufacturing side of the business moved into the space in October 2021. In the move from Ridgway, manufacturing was only offline for three days. “We were making and shipping candles on top of electricians working on the building,” he reveals. After extensive renovations, the retail café space opened its doors in April 2022.

For Kornbluh, the vision of the retail café has only just begun. Already the mercantile has been populated with all kinds of simple living products that Kornbluh and his staff love. There are body care products, juice presses, organic cotton napkins, coffee and coffee brewing products that are just a few examples. Of course, the mercantile carries Bluecorn’s flagship beeswax candle line and its scented candles. While the business is venturing into the sales of different housewares and body products, he says the beeswax candles are still the backbone and spine of Bluecorn, which is why it’s so unique to sit and enjoy a coffee and lunch while watching one of the 30 Bluecorn employees strategically dip racks of tapered candles into nearby vats of hot beeswax.

“We have been blessed with our employees,” he says. “We seem to be attracting a really high caliber of people to work with us. It’s a great place to work and a great scene. It’s clean, quiet and chill. This place is so inviting for both customers and employees. I really want to maintain this feeling of welcoming and simplicity. It’s just a great place to hang.”

Kornbluh hopes to have a liquor license in place soon to pair with future planned events at the mercantile café, including musical events produced by Pickin’ Productions, weekly community candle making nights and book readings. “We’ve only just begun, and we are pretty darn excited for what we built and what’s coming,” he adds.

Be sure to visit beeswaxcandles.com for all Bluecorn products, as well as Kornbluh’s blog on his journey into making beeswax candles, starting in an off-the-grid cabin near Telluride.

Visit bluecorncafemontrose.com for more information on Bluecorn Café & Mercantile including its menu. The caféis open every day but Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Bluecorn Opens The Curtain To Beeswax Candle Making At New Retail Café