Beloved Business Returning To Broken Arrow Rose District

A store that's been in business for more than 30 years is coming back to Broken Arrow, where it first started in 1991.

The Secret Gardens Candle Company has had several owners and has relocated several times, but a Broken Arrow woman recently bought it and decided to bring it back to BA's Rose District.

The new owner, Michelle Everett, said this store was the last place she shopped with her mother before her mother passed away, and when Michelle heard it was going to be online only, she knew she had to save it.

Michelle Everett says buying the Secret Gardens Candle Company holds a special place in her heart, and since she grew up in Broken Arrow and the company started here, she wanted to bring it full circle.

"I wanted to bring it back; it meant something to me, and it had some nostalgia, and I wanted that memory," Everett said.

She's even changing a few things to make it her own and honor her mother.

"The logo used to be black, and I changed it to red as my mother’s birthday is Valentine's Day," she said.

As she dedicates this new endeavor to her mother, she wants to build a legacy.

"Bringing those sales tax to my own streets, and my son that goes to school here and helping our community grow,” Everett said. “Employing jobs for the high school kids or mothers who have kids at school and need just a day job. I love being able to give back to my community."

Lots of people who grew up in Broken Arrow say the Secret Gardens Candle Company is all about tradition for them.

"When someone sees a business that used to be here and then really has a passion about bringing it back, there’s something about it,” Christ Gillespie said. “It’s just a sentimental thing, you know. Sentimentality is important to people, and having traditions is important to people."

“We've all walked the streets of Main Street, and we’ve all smelt the candle smells,” said Jules Resnik.

Now, people can find the store at 1st and Commercial.

"To be a part of this and the tradition of Main Street and being a merchant on Main Street and in the Rose District is history for me," said Everett.

When she bought the business, she had no idea how to make candles, but thanks to the previous owners, she's learned all the science behind it and now loves the process of creating them.