NEWS

A Young Man, A Plan, A Candle

Staff Writer

Columbus CEO

The association between teenage boys and scent is almost never positive. Hart Main is the exception. In 2010, the Marysville teen founded ManCans, a line of candles with masculine scents such as Sawdust, Grandpa's Pipe and Cracker Jack.

"I was joking with my sister, because she was selling candles for her school, and I was wondering why people hadn't made man-scented candles yet," Main recalls. Encouraged by his parents, Main used $100 in savings to create his first scents: Fresh-Cut Grass (the most popular), New Mitt and Campfire.

Made from food-grade wax and fragrances, the candles are poured into soup cans (the soup is donated to local food banks). ManCan labels include age-appropriate safety advice: "In case you are stupid, this candle will get very, very hot!!!"

Kristin Obert, a sales associate at Short North retailer Bink Davies, says customers "love the concept, that it's a young boy that developed the whole idea." Obert says women buy $11.95 candles for their boyfriends, husbands or brothers. Bacon is the store's best seller,

More than 6,000 ManCans have been sold in stores and online ($9.50 plus shipping) at www.man-cans.com. NBC4 television personalities Jerod Smalley and Matt Barnes were early champions, and a segment from the station aired on "The Today Show." George Lopez's "Lopez Tonight" TBS scheduled a ManCans plug in June.

What's next? "I would like to continue on, but I don't know if I'll be able to," Main says. "I'm already struggling to keep up with school."

He starts ninth grade in September.