Things are Heating Up at Yankee Candle

Yankee Holding Corp. and The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. posted positive financial results for the second quarter ended July 3, 2010. Sales increased 5.5% to $125.4 million.

Sales in the company’s wholesale business jumped 5.8% to $53.7 million, while retail sales rose 5.2% to $71.7 million.

“The retail environment was considerably more challenging in the second quarter than in the first, as the consumer became increasingly cautious,” said Harlan Kent, the company’s chief executive officer. “Despite this difficult environment, our retail and wholesale businesses were each able to deliver positive year over year sales growth in the second quarter.”

For the six months ended July 3, 2010, retail sales rose 9.6% to $145.4 million, driven primarily by an increase in new stores opened after the second quarter of 2009, an increase in comparable store sales and an increase in sales in the Yankee Candle fundraising business. Wholesale sales increased 14.8% to $121.0 million.