Sales Down at Yankee Candle

Home fragrance marketers are still looking for someone to light their fire. Even Yankee Candle posted dim financial results for the second quarter ended July 4, 2009.

Sales for the company’s continuing operations for the second quarter fell 3.6% to $119.3 million. Both the retail and wholesale segments of the business continued to be negatively impacted by the ongoing macroeconomic challenges affecting all consumer-facing companies, including the continued rise in unemployment and weak consumer spending behavior, said Yankee Candle.

However, retail sales—excluding the shuttered Illuminations businesses—increased 2% to $68.1 million.Comparable sales in the 437 Yankee Candle retail stores—including the South Deerfield and Williamsburg flagship stores that have been open for more than one year—decreased 5%, while the consumer direct business decreased by 2.4% over the prior year quarter.Wholesale sales fell 10% to $51.2 million.

For the six months ended July 4, 2009, retail sales slipped 1.8% to $132.7 million.

The company also announced its plans to discontinue its Aroma Naturals business.