Paddywax began as the brainchild of Gretchen Hollingsworth and David Duncan. Fueled with a desire to create a product and company of which they could be proud, in 1996, they introduced into the marketplace an innovative line of hand-poured, fragrance-infused, soy wax candles. Over the next 13 years, they built Paddywax into a premier, US-based, candle brand, known for unequaled quality, creative design, and compelling packaging. Paddywax became synonymous for a truly novel product line offering designer appeal and unique, complex, long-lasting home fragrance.

The tremendous consumer response to their initial offerings led Gretchen and David to the inevitable decision to expand. In 2009, they partnered with DesignWorks Investments led by President and CEO, Joseph Moore. With over twenty years of operational leadership experience in the gift industry (including the roles of President and Vice-Chairman of CR Gibson), Joseph's expertise and passion for design, packaging, and merchandising made DesignWorks the perfect partner for Gretchen and David. The strategic alliance set the stage to grow Paddywax from its humble beginnings into a global leader in home fragrance.

While retaining their vision to develop a winning company model and produce a superior product line, Paddywax Candles has expanded its distribution to include South & Central America, Canada, , Europe, Great Britain, Australia, , and Japan. The combination of the visionary, operational expertise of DesignWorks and the exceptional product development proficiency at Paddywax has created a perfect storm of opportunity and innovation, resulting in a 70% growth in sales for 2010 and a 60% growth rate this year. The future promises inventive new product lines and increased, worldwide distribution (with an amazing 48-hour order processing), while maintaining the quality and original vision of Paddywax's founders.

All Paddywax candles continue to be produced in the United States with the same integrity and attention to detail as when the business was started. Paddywax continues to use a blended soy wax in its manufacturing and combines this wax with unique fragrance pairings to produce candles with truly special scents. Fragrance is paramount at Paddywax. The tantalizing aromas and exquisite design of the Paddywax brand of candles, diffusers, soaps, and our highly-anticipated new lines, have resulted in a family of products that have proven to truly resonate with consumers and retailers alike.