Blog Post #1
People walk past us all the time at the farmers markets, usually getting a good laugh at our sign on display, "No amount of essential oils can cure bat shit crazy!", but they also are saying things like “boogienapa?” or “boogenapa? So, I thought for my first blog, I would take this opportunity to clear up the pronunciation of “bougie”, the intent of the name, and the meaning!
The word “bougie” actually means candle in French! Now I am not French, but I did live in Paris for 3 years when I was a child so I will forever have a loyal fondness to all things Francais! Quite often you will see on a candle label something like “bougie parfumee” - meaning scented candle. It sounds fancy and it is actually required by law that we, as candle makers, have on our label that our product is a scented candle. However, for the past few years you have probably heard the word bougie being used in sentences like, “Oh Lisa is so bougie!” or “That is a bougie purse!” - meaning someone or something with the characteristic of the middle class, with reference to the perceived materialistic values. Well, my feeling on this subject was that I wanted to create a high end candle, for a reasonable price that most people could comfortably afford. Voila!
As for the pronunciation according to the dictionary, bougie is pronounced /‘boo(d)ZHe/ and there is a line over the oo and e, blah blah blah, but in lay persons terms just say boo- gee like “geez”, so when you run it all together it kind of makes the “gee” like “she”! Got it?! Good!
Now that we have that cleared up, the reason I chose this name is because originally I thought - oh wouldn’t it be great to open a candle store in downtown Napa? Sonoma Square has one, Napa needs one too! And seeing as the word “bougie” is a catchy word that people are using now wouldn’t it sound cute in front of Napa? (I think we can all admit that Napa really is a bit “bougie”!) So, once we opened the Bougie Napa brick and mortar, and it was a huge success of course (lol), then we could expand to Bougie Yountville, Bougie St Helena, Bougie Calistoga…get it? Bougie is a versatile word that sounds great in front of any city name! But sadly, reality sets in fast when you’re talking $50+/sq ft plus triple net and long leases and all those things that kill the American dream so that is why you will find many a small artisan companies finding their niche, getting feedback from their customers, and honing their skills at one of the many wonderful farmers markets we are so blessed to have in our communities.
Stay tuned for the next exciting Bougie Blog. We are busy creating many new exciting things to compliment our candles!