SOUTH DEERFIELD — Forty-six full-time Yankee Candle Co. employees were affected when the parent company that owns the candle-making giant decided to consolidate its businesses’ consumer services operations to three spots around the world.
New Jersey-based Newell Brands will base these operations out of a trio of global sites — one in High Point, N.C., another in Poznań, Poland, and a third in Manila, Philippines. Some of the affected Franklin County employees were placed into other open roles but it was unclear how many.
The Newell Brands Home Fragrance Consumer Service Center was largely integrated into the High Point and Manila centers earlier this month.
Michael Kittredge founded Yankee Candle in 1969 and it grew into the largest hand-crafted candle company in the country. In 1998, Kittredge sold 90 percent of the business’s shares to a private New York equity company for $500 million. The brand has had a handful of owners over the past two decades, most recently Jarden Corp., which Newell Brands acquired in 2016.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.