We recently connected with Cass Grunewald and have shared our conversation below.

Cass, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Our name is RePete Candle & Coffee Bar. We’re frequently asked where the “RePete” comes from. Long story, short the business is named after our kids. When my husband, Brandon, was young, his family adoringly nick-named him Sweetie Petie. Over the years, friends and locals caught on and began just calling him Petie or Pete. As we started having children, the nick-name transitioned to them, and friends began calling them RePetes.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began candle making back in 2015 as a hobby. I’ve always been a creative soul, and needed an outlet. At the time I was working in the accounting field and there wasn’t exactly a lot of creativity shining through in my day to day work. I ordered my first candle making kit, and the rest was history. The 10 pounds of wax I started with made more candles than I needed so I started gifting them to friends and family. I spent about a year creating my brand, and finessing the art of candle making. Over time, more and more local shops picked up my candle line to sell in their stores, and I built our first website.

In 2018, I was approached about hosting a candle fundraiser. The fundraising group would pre-sell my line, and in return would earn 30-35% of the sales proceeds. It was a smash hit! We ended up filling 400+ candles with our first fundraiser. The business grew quickly from there, and we severely outgrew my making space in our basement.

In 2021, we purchased an old gas station via tax sale on the busiest street in town. This was incredibly exciting but so, so scary. Candle sales are very cyclical. We’ll sell a ton during the “ber” months, but the rest of year, we have to get creative with other ways to earn a profit. I knew I needed a way to drive consistent daily sales, and our town was lacking a coffee shop, hence the birth of RePete Candle & Coffee Bar. One half of our building houses our candle studio, and the other half houses our coffee shop/retail space. It has been a match made in heaven. Who doesn’t love coffee AND candles?! We routinely host events throughout the year showcasing our seasonal drink menu and new candle collections to spark fresh interest. It’s been a fun/crazy/wild ride. We officially opened in May of 2022. By Fall of 2022, both my husband and I had quit our full-time jobs to give our time and energy into growing this business. We invested in a marketing manager, built our online presence even more, and expanded our candle fundraising segment to a national service area. We’ve built an incredible relationship with our community through continuously giving-back with donations (both product & monetary), and community service.

Taking the dive into full-blown entrepreneurship is scary. I endured a lot of loss which ultimately pushed me into the “life is too short” mindset. Losing a best friend to cancer in 2014, another to an accident in 2021, and my dad to cancer in 2022 catapulted me out of complacency and into this mindset of ‘I have one life to live, and I’m going to make the most of it.’ My dad passed away one month before we opened our doors. I regret not taking my plunge into entrepreneurship sooner, as he was always one of my biggest cheerleaders, and it would have been so great to celebrate our success together.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing a team and maintaining high morale starts at the beginning with the hiring process. Knowing exactly what kind of employee you’re looking for before even interviewing is integral in maintaining a happy staff. We’ve found that employees that have previous experience in a team environment work best for us. That could be in the form of team sports, band, or community service. If they’ve already learned how to work with others toward a common goal, they’re so much more trainable and valuable. We host our employees a couple of times per year with staff parties (Christmas, summer, or fall parties). These have been great for staff members and owners alike to build relationships outside of work. We’re also routinely hooking our staff up with new merchandise, and freebies. We’re incredibly flexible with time-off, and pay well considering the tiny community we’re based in.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I love this question. There’s never a bad time to implement what I’m about to tell you, but getting a head start with it and doing so before ever opening can be such a huge asset to a new company. Invest in professional photography/marketing/branding for your business. Then use those pictures and branding to post regularly on your socials. Know where your customers are too. Is your ideal customer primarily on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok? Figure that out, and go where your people are. We focus heavily on our Facebook marketing, as that’s primarily where our local clientele hangout. When we’re promoting our national fundraising program, we post more on Instagram.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.repetecandles.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/repetecandles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/repetecandlecoffeebar/

Image Credits

Kirsten Johnson – Kirsten with a Camera