Wick’d Candles
Evil Queen, a new business in the Warehouse District, focuses on creating fun and funky candles by
Kristen May content editor
It was a typical Wednesday morning. After just exploring Playa Bowls, my sister questioned whether we could head over to this new business in the Warehouse District, Evil Queen. I was enticed. The moment I stepped through the door, I was immediately transported to a different dimension. Delicioussmelling candles lined the walls, and cute little trinkets were spattered across the counters. I was immediately drawn to a candle labeled “Fall” that had an aura of coffee and crisp leaves. Instinctively picking it up, I held it up to my nose, breathing in the scent that would drive me to buy the candle. I then decided to look around the store more and uncover all of the hidden secrets lying within the nooks and crannies. As I left the store, I pondered what brought this secret treasure trove to Traverse City. Evil Queen’s origins began in a small apartment in Los Angeles in 2016. Owner Ida-Sofia Koivuniemi remembers the process that started it all. “It was just a random idea that I had to make funny candles, [since] at the time, no one was doing that,” Koivuniemi recounts. However, Los Angeles is a drastically different environment than Traverse City, and the transition took some time. Whether it’s the amount of people, the size of the city, or the overall atmosphere, Traverse City certainly takes some getting used to. “There’s a lot more of a community here,” Koivuniemi observes, which helps with meeting customers and developing connections. 20 // BGQ // October 2023
Photo: K. May
