PartyLite

PartyLite's story starts in a kitchen. In the early 1900s, a Cape Cod schoolteacher named Mabel Baker began making candles colored and scented with wild berries. She started selling them in 1909. The company says her candle business was worth about $6 million when she died in 1965.

In 1973, Baker's company set up a subsidiary called PartyLite Gifts, Inc. Instead of selling candles wholesale to stores, it sold them through independent Consultants at home parties. The idea took off. PartyLite became the main business of Blyth, Inc., a Connecticut candle group, and Blyth said in 2006 that more than 27,000 Consultants in the US and 19,000 more abroad were selling its products. By 2019 PartyLite was based in Norwell, Massachusetts and sold in 20 countries.

“In 1909, a schoolteacher named Mabel Baker began making bayberry candles in her Cape Cod kitchen.”

PartyLite, “About PartyLite” — partylite.com (archived), May 2019

The seller network shrank in the 2010s. Blyth reported about 14,800 active North American Consultants at the end of 2014, down from about 16,800 a year earlier. In 2015 the Carlyle Group bought Blyth. In 2016 Carlyle and Centre Lane Partners combined PartyLite with Ohio's Candle-lite under a new company, Luminex Home Décor & Fragrance, and PartyLite's plant in Batavia, Illinois was set to close, affecting about 144 jobs.

PartyLite sold candles, and almost everything else in the line existed to show candles off. Its products were made to fit together, so one holder could take many seasonal scents.

• Candles: three-wick jar candles, pillars, votives, tapers and tealights, including the GloLite by PartyLite range.
• Holders and decor: tealight and votive holders, lanterns, centerpieces and seasonal accents.
• Flameless fragrance: wax melts and warmers, room sprays, diffusers and, later, plug-in and car scents.
• Food, for a time: the old Direct Sales Aid profile noted Two Sisters Gourmet soup, sauce and dessert mixes. Blyth bought that party-plan brand in 2006.

The pitch was easy decorating. A quick change of holder or scent could turn a Halloween table into a Christmas one. Collectors also bought limited-edition holders year after year. In its later years the company promoted cleaner ingredients under its BePure Commitment and a 100% Love It Guarantee.

For most of its life, PartyLite sellers were called Consultants. They booked parties with hosts, showed the line, and took orders from guests. Hosts earned free products and discounts based on their party's sales. Consultants could also sell online and through catalogs, and recruit others onto their team.

Starter Kit

The kit changed over the years. The old Direct Sales Aid profile described a $175 Starter Kit of candles, holders and accessories, which new Consultants could buy outright or earn free by booking a starter show or reaching $350 in orders. In 2019, PartyLite offered a $79 Quick Start Kit online, or a Starter Kit that new Consultants could earn with no upfront cost.

Pay

In 2019, the company's own earnings example assumed a profit of about 25% on sales, with a 32% rate when monthly sales reached $2,000 or more. Team leaders earned bonuses on recruits and their teams' sales. In August 2020 PartyLite replaced this with an Affiliate model. Affiliates paid a yearly fee of about $50, earned 15% to 35% on monthly sales, and could earn 5% on sales from the people they signed up. By early 2024, VIP Affiliates could add small monthly boosts for building a team.

On February 1, 2024, Luminex announced that PartyLite would leave direct selling in the United States and Canada. The new direct-to-consumer model launched on March 1, 2024. According to industry press coverage of the release on February 6, 2024, Luminex described the change as a response to “adapting consumer changes.” PartyLite told its sellers they could keep promoting the brand as Brand Ambassadors, but the party plan, team pay and Consultant network ended.

“PartyLite is now a thriving customer-focused Direct to Consumer brand with a robust Brand Ambassador program that generously supports former PartyLite Consultants.”

PartyLite, “Our Story” — partylite.com, 2026

Today PartyLite still exists as a brand. Its US and Canadian websites sell candles, wax melts and decor directly to shoppers, and list PartyLite Gifts, Inc. in Leesburg, Ohio for customer inquiries. The current Brand Ambassador program is a free social media affiliate program that pays a minimum 10% commission on sales through a creator's link. It has no parties, no kit and no team earnings. In Europe, PartyLite still recruits Consultants; the German site, for example, offers free sign-up with a Quick Start Kit.

Fans of the candle party can look at live companies on Direct Sales Aid such as Scentsy and Pink Zebra, or browse all candle and home fragrance companies.