2020 was a good year for Ken and Merri Bayard, or at least it was for their fledgling candle company.
The sudden boom in online shopping lit up their Bayard Candle Co., founded in 2018 and run from their basement, for a national audience. With “zero overhead,” the Bayards were able to grow the company quickly, reinvesting their sudden profits.
It’s thanks to that bit of luck, Ken said, that they were able to open up a physical storefront in Williamston last year. And after a year in that “low-traffic shoebox” on the second floor of their former building, the Bayards finally turned their basement business into a storefront in downtown Williamston last week…