Our Story

In January 2020, three friends decided to train for the 10-mile Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. Always ready for a laugh, they distracted each other from the monotony of endurance workouts by telling each other stories.

Kristen shared she recently received a gift from a small batch candle company in Syracuse, New York. She was impressed that they made custom, hand-poured candles, and also offered a return program to recycle and reuse the jars.

At the same time, we admired other local entrepreneurs who had recently started companies making gifts that celebrated our hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe runner’s high, but we wondered: could we start our own hyper-local candle company?

Living in a 300-year-old, tightly knit community, there was plenty of inspiration. Being history enthusiasts, we first thought of another female founder, Elizabeth Haddon, our town’s namesake.

At a time when women were not in positions of power, 21-year-old Haddon traveled alone from England to New Jersey, tasked with establishing the land her father had just purchased. She forged relationships with local Native Americans, and married the prominent Quaker minister, John Estaugh. On their property, she concocted medicines and brewed beer in her own workshop, which still stands today on Wood Lane.

That inspired our first wick, Brew House. In fact, we almost named our company Brew House Wicks. Instead, we decided on E&3, the “E” for Elizabeth, and the “3” for the three of us.

We were also influenced by modern day Haddonfield and its many quirks and inside jokes. The hot button topics around that time were the conditions of the local sports complex, and gangs of teenage bike riders taking over the main street, Kings Highway. That inspired two more candles, Crows Woods and Kings Stroll.

When the pandemic hit, all this talk became real. To keep ourselves sane, we immersed ourselves into researching and testing, and emerged six months later with our first few cases of these three original scents. Without much of a plan, we set up a card table at a Thanksgiving morning holiday market, and decided to see what would happen.

To our surprise, we not only nearly sold out, but we also walked away with two custom candle requests. That’s when we realized we were onto something special.

In 2021, we turned this hobby into a real business, with Katie and Kristen as co-founders. Karen had to step away because she had too many other commitments, but we kept the name since E&2 just didn’t have the same ring to it. Of course, she still plays an important role in liking all our Instagram posts!

Since then, we’ve grown our Signature Series of Haddonfield-themed candles and added holiday collections. We started our PHL Collection that celebrates Philly sports and culture. We’ve curated accessories, working with other local artisans to create truly one-of-a-kind decor. And we’ve partnered with other local businesses to capture their unique essence in custom wicks.

Thousands of candles later, our story’s just getting started. We’re happy you’re here to be a part of it.

E&3 Apothecary Owners Kristen Paleczny & Katie Gorman