Crossroads Original Designs may be one of the best smelling factories around. Located in Bucyrus, the company makes scented candles and other scented items as well as gift items. This week the company will host their annual Holiday Open House, a popular event offering factory seconds and discontinued and closeout items.
Crossroads was founded in Bucyrus in 2003 by brothers Jason and Justin McMullen. The factory and wholesale company opened a retail factory store on-site approximately three years ago. “With our basis in wholesale, a lot of [local] people didn’t know about us,” said Jason McMullen, president and co-founder of Crossroads Original Designs.
The open house started several years ago as a way to encourage local interest. The event was originally held in the conference area and break room at the factory, and has since moved to larger space on the factory floor.
“It just kept growing and growing,” said McMullen, noting that now over 4,000 people attend the event in a three day period.
“It’s an event,” he said. “People will tell us they took vacation time for it. It’s a lot of fun, though.”
McMullen said that during the sale it is not unusual for customers to spend hours combing through the sale items, searching for a particular scent or piece of framed art. The art, he noted, is created exclusively for Crossroads by notable artists and is framed on-site.
Crossroads Original Designs offers a variety of scented items in addition to candles, including reed diffusers, wax melts, and air and car fresheners. The company also offers decorative mats made from recycled tires and bearing custom artwork. Many other gift items are also offered.
Although the Holiday Open House sale last only three days, the factory retail shop is open year-round.
The store brings in not only local retail customers but tour busses, as well. “We have about 82 bus tours scheduled this year,” McMullen said.
The company does not offer a factory tour, but a 10-foot viewing window, which overlooks the factory production area, is located in the retail shop and allows customers a peek into the process of candle making.
The company recently acquired Cooper’s Mill Apple Butter & Jelly Factory, located less than a mile from Crossroads. Bus tours generally include both facilities, and items from Cooper’s Mill will be available at the Holiday Open House.
Cooper’s Mill also offers a viewing area where customers can see products being made. “The apple butter we still cook in a copper kettle over a wood fire,” said McMullen, “so they can come in and watch that process, start to finish. It’s an old German recipe and we’re going to try to stick to it if we can. It’s very good quality.”
Quality is important in both organizations, according to McMullen, who noted that the secret to the popular Crossroads candles is quality ingredients. The attention to quality has paid off for the company.
“On the wholesale side, we have about 5,000 customers. We’re in every state. We have distributors in Canada and Ireland. On the retail side, I’d say we have about 12,000 customers annually,” said McMullen.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” he added, “we’ve worked hard and we’ve got a great staff.” Crossroads employs about 80 people, noted McMullen, with very little turnover.
McMullen noted that community involvement is also important. “We give back as much as we can; we’re very involved with the United Way,” he said.
Crossroads Original Designs and the United Way Chapter of Crawford County join forces for the “Pre-Sale Event” of the Holiday Open House on Thursday, Nov. 13, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 and all ticket proceeds benefit the United Way. Tickets may be purchased at the factory retail store or via credit card by calling 866-247-0156.
The Holiday Open House is open to the general public, no ticket required, on Friday, Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Crossroads Original Designs is located at 115 Crossroads Blvd, Bucyrus, and Cooper’s Mill Apple Butter & Jelly Factory is located at 1414 N. Sandusky Ave., Bucyrus.
