Indiana’s Warm Glow is the perfect day trip
By Natalie Hamren
If you’re in need of a fun, activity-filled day trip this fall and winter, Warm Glow Candle Company’s outlet retail store in Centerville, Indiana, may be the place for you.
The outlet, comprised of two stores and an open-air pavilion, gives guests the opportunity to shop for Warm Glow’s candles in person, sip on Indiana wine, shop from local vendors and watch real-life peacocks.
Co-owner and founder Jackie Carberry started Warm Glow in her basement with her husband in 1994. After a life-changing illness, Carberry says she switched career paths from culinary to candle-making.
Carberry and her husband sold vintage and antique items at a small shop in Richmond, Indiana. One of their most popular items was candles. The couple sourced their candles from six-to-eight different retailers, but they could not keep up with the demand from their customers.
One of the candle companies Carberry and her husband bought from was thinking about selling their company. At the last minute, the company backed out, but Carberry was already working on creating a candle company of her own.
“We just kept experimenting until we felt like we had a product that was a quality product that we would want to burn ourselves,” Carberry says.
One of the first buildings the Carberrys bought for the Warm Glow outlet was a campground recreation center in 2000. They rebuilt the area and turned the new building into Artisans and Java—a coffee shop and store that features items from local artists such as furniture, pottery, knitting, baskets, jewelry, books, illustrations, paintings and more.
Next to Artisans and Java is the open-air pavilion, featuring vendors who sell outdoor décor and other handcrafted items. Visitors can watch peacocks in an outdoor aviary that features one male and six hens. Carberry says she loves peacocks and has housed many at her home for years.
The last building on the property is the Warm Glow Candle store. The store also includes local Indiana beer and wine, chocolates, and other food items. In the east end of the building is Home Décor and More, a store where guests can shop for soap, floral arrangements and other home décor items.
“We have vendors that—some I’ve had a relationship with for 20-some years and others are kind of new to me personally—bring a wonderful array of products for our guests to experience.”
The Warm Glow outlet holds seasonal events—like the Fall Festival in September and the Christmas Open House Dec. 2-5. Carberry says she hopes visitors leave Warm Glow’s outlet leaving welcomed and cared for.
“We appreciate them stopping by and visiting us because we know how important everyone’s time is,” Carberry says. “I would just really hope that they come out with a very positive experience, something that they would want to tell others about and that they would want to come and experience again.”
Warm Glow Candle Outlet is located at 2131 N. Centerville Road in Centerville, Indiana. warmglow.com.
