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WILKES-BARRE — Ask Bob Scocozzo to name the capital of Slovakia and he nails it with Bratislava.
Scocozzo credits a Greek restaurateur in Saudi Arabia with introducing him to a new market in the central European country for the line of Mia Bella candles made by Scent-Sations Inc. on George Avenue in the city’s Parsons section.
Confused? Don’t be, Scocozzo’s all over the map by design as the privately owned company expands to far flung locales.
“We’re in Korea. We’re in Saudi Arabia. We’re in Slovakia. We have pallets going to Spain,” said Scocozzo, 66, Scent-Sations chief executive officer. Australia and Taiwan beckon.
The company’s been able to burn the candle at both ends, here and abroad, and generate sales in the millions of dollars through its established network-marketing operation in the United States and with the introduction of brick-and-mortar stores overseas.
“It’s going to take me another year-and-a-half to build this international market. But when I do, we’re going to be big,” said Scocozzo.
Well-documented story
The story of Scent-Sations has been well documented. Scocozzo and his business partner, Charlie Umphred, teamed up with Carmen Milazzo in 2002 to manufacture and sell an all-natural wax, triple-scented, clean-burning candle. They started small, grew incrementally and moved into their 28,000-square-foot building in 2004. Their signature line, named after Scocozzo’s 21-year-old daughter Mia Bella, found a niche in the $3 billion to $4 billion a year industry dominated by Yankee Candle, one of the more than 100 brand-name products owned by Jarden Corp., a Fortune 500 company. Jarden and Newell Rubbermaid agreed to a merger that is expected to close this month.
Scocozzo said Scent-Sations is settled in the United States, its primary focus. He doesn’t see the overseas market overtaking domestic sales.
“I don’t think that’ll ever happen because we’re too big here,” he said. “But it will let us expand into brick and mortar along with home parties and fundraising and all the different aspects that we do. It’s just a whole ‘nother market for us that we didn’t think we’d be able to do.”
Scocozzo attributed the entry into the new markets to the Northeast Pennsylvania Alliance, an economic development agency in Pittston Township.
“They’ve been incredible for us,” he said. “We are now in about seven countries, because of them.”
Following a plan
Scocozzo is following a plan of the small fish, Mia Bella, following the big fish, Yankee, and isn’t afraid of getting swallowed up in the pursuit.
“It’s like Burger King and McDonald’s. If there’s a Burger King, you’re going to find a McDonald’s real close by,” he confided, revealing his strategy. “I want to be right next to Yankee because I believe that my candle is all-natural wax and theirs isn’t. I believe I triple-scent my candles and they don’t. And my price points are as good as theirs and my jar is a little bit bigger than theirs.”
The hard part is getting customers to switch; but once they try his, they stick with it, he said.
He’s realistic in his goals and doesn’t want to take on Yankee. He’s happy with a small fraction of their market.
“Now here’s a stat for you. A million seconds on your watch equals 13 days. A billion seconds is 33 years. That’s the difference between a little million dollar company and a billion dollar company,” Scocozzo explained.
How much is enough? More than a million but less than a billion.
“If I can grab 1 percent of that, I’m a $10 million company here in Wilkes-Barre, PA, selling around the world, employing people here,” Scocozzo calculated.
Selling candles in Saudi Arabia
From Riyahd, Saudi Arabia, restaurant owner Kosta Theodossiou is doing his part.
As a Mia Bella licensee, he’s been selling the candles in the capital city’s Western compounds that attract between 500 and 1,000 people.
“Everybody comes back. Everybody is impressed with the way we display the products,” Theodossiou said while speaking with Scocozzo over his iPhone’s Facetime app. He, too, was impressed with Scocozzo and his company.
“The were extremely professional in getting back to me in no time and that showed the level of professionalism on their side,” Theodossiou said.
The name of the candle and the “positive vibe” it created attracted him and spread to his customers. “These are happy products. They smell good. They look good. They keep all the negative vibe away,” he said.
Theodossiou is also the licensee for Slovakia and is investing in a store in the nation’s capital.
“The guy in Bratislava has a Yankee store that’s 10 times (the size of) this room,” Scocozzo said of his office. “Guess where we’re going? Right next to him.”
The competitors are neighbors in the United Kingdom, where Mia Bella has four stores. Scocozzo said it appears the competition is taking notice. “We started doing a lot of personalized candles and they just started doing it. They do watch us, I think,” he said.
Not for sale
The maker of Mia Bella has been on other companies’ watch lists.
“We had two people offer to buy us. We had two offers to take over our company and move it out of here,” Scocozzo said.
But he’s committed to his roots.
“I’m local. My partners are local. We’re born and raised here, you know, our children grew up here. Our family and friends work here,” Scocozzo said. His son, Michael, works on the production floor.
Being part of a conglomerate doesn’t appeal to Scocozzo.
“It’s about money, but it’s not about money,” he said. “We’re not a zillion dollar company with seven million employees and everybody’s punching by the minute. It doesn’t work like that for us. It’s not going to change.”
If somebody needs to take time off to handle personal or family business, they can, Scocozzo said. He can fill in for them. “I do it all,” he said.
“And I talk to every distributor on the phone, thousands of them. And because I want to let them know that it’s not just sitting in a big office. I’m in the field, too. I roll up my sleeves every day like everybody else. And that’s what you need to do to be successful,” he said.
What you see is what you get, from his hands-on-approach to his ultra accessibility .
“I like to treat people the way I was treated when I was a distributor for a company. I wanted to be treated like I was special,” Scocozzo said. “You know how many times a day people call me and go, ‘I can’t believe I’m talking to the CEO of this company?’ I go, ‘Hey man, I put my pants on just like you.’”
He’s bought into his product, too.
“I’ll give you this, I’m a candle addict now,” Scocozzo said. “I walk in the house, first thing I do is light a candle and it burns ‘til I’m going to bed.”
