Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.

A selection of candles made by Wendy Day, who owns Beer Girl Candles and Clay Street Tavern & Provisions in downtown Mebane.

A selection of candles made by Wendy Day, who owns Beer Girl Candles and Clay Street Tavern & Provisions in downtown Mebane.

Wendy Day knows a thing or two about the business of filling beer glasses. Or, that is, the businesses (plural) of filling beer glasses. And, to be more specific, one of her businesses excels at emptying beer cans and bottles, while the other fills them back up.

With wax. And wicks. And scents.

Day, who has owned Clay Street Tavern & Provisions since 2008, is also owner of Beer Girl Candles, which she started a few years back as a way to reuse some of what Clay Street Tavern had an abundance of. Day said she just happened to be looking at empty beer cans and bottles and thought, “Why not upcycle them?”

Her beer candles caught on and she began selling them at festivals. And then Covid-19 hit, providing a double-whammy to Day, who saw the shutting down of Clay Street Tavern and a halting of festivals and craft shows.

Ever-industrious, she found a way to get her main business and side gig going again. “We were able to open as bottle shop and provisions,” Day said. “I discussed it with the owner of Beer Co. at the time to kind of get some insight. So we were able to transition. We had a lot of locals that would come in and buy stuff from me just to help support me, so we were able to tie that into it. And we do a lot of special orders for Christmas, Father’s Day. We do things like that as well.”

Her beer candles line several shelves near the seating area of Clay Street Tavern. While she does offer a beer-scented candle and a whiskey-scented candle, Day wants people to know that the beer-theme novelty of her candles is more about the packaging. Most of what she makes have non-alcohol-related scents. 

“That’s kind of the niche I wanted to go for,” she said. “Unfortunately, people hear the name and they just think it’s all beer and it’s not. We have coconut-lime scents, rose scents, everything like that. We also have a Coca Cola scent, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew. It’s just like a candle you would go buy at the store. It’s just made in beer bottles and beer cans, wine bottles, liquor bottles.”

Beer Girl Candles uses scented soy wax for an even, clean burn. It has also started using a gel wax that closely resembles beer in a pint glass. The “foam” part of the candle smells like beer.

Now that festivals are happening, Beer Girl Candles is again setting up to sell its eye-catching candles as often as Day can. 

“We don’t do as many festivals as I’d like because I’m working here, but we have been very successful with the Makers Market, Dogwood Festival, and Autumn Fest,” she said. “I do a festival in Elon, we’ve done one near Burgaw, and Warsaw, and then one in Roxboro. I try to pick and choose where I know it’s going to be appreciated.”

As she travels, Day makes a point to pick up canned beer that are unique to the area so her line of candles always has distinguished packaging. She’s also had success selling candles in beer cans and beer bottle that mention local schools, like App State.

“Most of the people who buy them, buy them for what’s on the can, and not necessarily the scent,” she said.

Day said she makes her candles at Clay Street Tavern & Provisions. She keeps the wax, wicks, and scents in the back area of the building. And, of course, she has plenty of cans and bottles available.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.