Scentsy is an American multi-level marketing ^{[2] [3]} company based in Meridian, Idaho that sells scented products including wax warmers and other home and body products. ^{[4] [5]}

The company was founded by Kara Egan and Colette Gunnel in 2003.

History

Scentsy was founded by Kara Egan and her sister-in-law Colette Gunnell in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2003. ^{[6] [7]} At a small business event in 2004, they met Orville Thompson, a struggling entrepreneur who had previously started several unprofitable business ventures. ^[8] Thompson took an interest in the pair's wick-less candle company and a few months later, he and his wife Heidi Thompson purchased the company from Egan and Gunnell. ^{[7] [8] [9]} The Thompsons moved the company's headquarters to Meridian, Idaho and on July 1, 2004 they re-launched Scentsy using a multi-level marketing distribution model. ^{[7] [10] [11] [4]}

Marketing materials for Scentsy were created by a Layton, Utah-based graphic design company, ScentsySuccess (an authorized division of Ann Dalton Design Inc.). ScentsySuccess was acquired by Scentsy in 2008, at which time they moved to a new distribution centre and showroom in Layton. ^[12]

In 2009, the company expanded into Canada and in 2011, it expanded again, into the United Kingdom and Germany. ^[13] In 2012, the company had over 170,000 active independent consultants. ^[14] At the end of 2015, this number had fallen to 95,891. ^[15] Co-founder Kara Egan remained with the company as a consultant and had over 42,000 down line consultants as of 2012. ^{[14] [6]}

In 2017, the company reported over $450 million in annual sales, putting it as number 44 on Direct Selling News' list of the top direct selling companies in the world. ^{[16] [17]} It was also on the Forbes magazine 2011 list of America's 100 Most Promising Companies and the 2018 list of America’s Best Midsize Employers. ^{[10] [16]}

Scentsy opened an east coast distribution center located in Rock Hill, South Carolina in summer 2021. ^[18]

In 2021, Dan Orchard became the interim CEO while Heidi and Orville Thompson moved to London to serve as a mission president couple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. ^[19] Orchard previously served as the general manager of emerging markets. ^[20] The Thompson's will return to their CEO duties at the end of their mission service in 2024. ^[19]

In 2023, Disney announced they would partner with Scentsy to create "Smellephants on Parade" a Dumbo-themed activity with smellable attractions. ^[21]

Business model

Under the multi-level marketing (MLM) model used by Scentsy, all products are sold exclusively through independent consultants, with no retail sales. ^[14] Consultants can also receive a portion of the sales of any new consultants that they recruit. ^[22] In a 2011 interview, CEO Orville Thompson said that they chose a direct selling model because their wickless candles were "an experiential product" that were best showcased in home-based parties and that MLM distributing allowed them to offer a larger selection of products than was possible to offer in the limited space of a retail store. ^[9]

Scentsy has been criticized for its heavy recruitment of American military spouses, whose families' frequent moves mean they often have trouble finding consistent employment. ^{[23] [24] [25]} The military humor site Duffel Blog satirized this practice by announcing the creation of SCENTCOM, "focused on unifying efforts of highly scented products sold on military bases through 'consultants.'" ^[26]

According to its 2015 income disclosure statement, ^[15] about 66,000 or 65% of active Scentsy consultants receive an average of $463.34 per year, before expenses. The top 200 or about 0.2% of consultants, earned an average of $113,363.98, with the highest income earner making nearly 1 million dollars. ^[27] According to a military.com article, it takes most consultants over four years to earn a yearly income equivalent to working three and a half hours per week at minimum wage, not counting business expenses. ^[23] The blog Bottlesoup calculates that a consultant will have to sell 639 Scentsy products per month to earn the equivalent of a full-time, minimum-wage job. ^{[28][ better source needed]} An analysis by The Finance Guy blog, claims that 99.45% of Scentsy consultants were not able to earn a full-time income. ^{[3][ better source needed]}

Scentsy was profiled in a study about the rhetoric used by companies in the 'direct selling industry'. ^[29] Scentsy's recruitment material was noted to emphasize personal agency within the context of Bormann's fantasy theme analysis and convergence theory.

See also

• List of multi-level marketing companies

References

External links

• Official website