Alexandrea Peralta’s business is located across the street from an inner city park that needs an image boost.
Putting her Jade Candle Co. shop across the street from a park in Harlingen some local residents avoid points to two of Peralta’s great passions. One is for candle making from scratch and creating products to the specifications of her customers. The other is love of her community and a commitment to make things better in Harlingen.
“I figured if I can’t make it in Harlingen, then something is wrong with my business model,” Peralta said. “I chose this location as a challenge, I think Gutierrez Park has so much potential.”
Peralta recalled returning home after years of living in Austin after graduating from Harlingen South High School. What she saw inspired her.
“I was shocked by how creative people are here,” Peralta said of the locally made products she saw at farmer’s markets and similar venues. “I really wanted to have a store to showcase my own items.”
A Better Product
Jade Candle opened in November 2023 and is named in honor of a beloved dog Peralta owned.
Peralta had been tinkering with and creating candles for over two years. It’s a step-by-step process. First she melts the wax. Peralta utilizes organic olive oil, adding it at precise temperatures and requiring the right ratios to create the intended product. She then pours the mix into a vessel, be it clay, wood, glass or cement. Peralta prides herself on creating candles that are non-toxic and free of harmful chemicals.
Mass-produced candles found at chain stores often have ingredients that can be harmful to people with allergies. They can also contain other unfavorable elements.
“It’s eye-opening to realize that many store-bought candles may contain harmful chemicals,” said Margie De La Torre, a Jade Candle customer, in an online review. “I’m truly grateful for the owner’s dedication in researching and ensuring toxic-free products.”
Converting Customers
Jade Candles are scented with various fragrance oils as well as unscented options. A key feature is that Peralta’s candles are refillable. A customer can bring their vessel previously purchased and she can pour the mix and scent requested.
“I feel like I’ve converted my customers,” Peralta said of her “everything here is refillable” mantra. Curating her candles to what her customers want and being efficient and non-wasteful in creating candles are core values of her shop.
The allure of candles is in the different reasons customers enjoy them. Some enjoy the scents while others laud the ambiance and calmness candles bring to their homes. Teachers will buy small heat plates with blocks of wax melts that when lit have a soothing effect on students and fill up a classroom with pleasant scents, Peralta said.
Harlingen is her first shop and she intends it to be one of three locations in the Rio Grande Valley. Brownsville and the Edinburg/McAllen area are in Peralta’s expansion plans.
“It’s about finding out what notes my customers want,” she said. “My goal is to keep growing and to branch out.”
Community Minded
Part of Peralta’s branching out includes the park across the street from her business.
Gutierrez Park is located along Harrison Avenue – one of Harlingen’s main thoroughfares – a few blocks west of the city’s downtown district. It’s well-kept and maintained by the city and has long been a gathering place for homeless residents who congregate on park benches. Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda has said in public meetings that the park “needs to be completely reimagined” and reintegrated back to the community.
Peralta agrees with that viewpoint and has participated in public forums discussing the future of Gutierrez Park. Addressing the homeless residents situation is one piece of the issue, Peralta said in observing that the topic was also prevalent in her years of living in Austin. Her chief criticism of city government was that it had given up on improving Gutierrez.
“There ought to be a better solution than just accepting things as they are,” she said. “Improve policing of the park. We have to have events there like outdoor markets and tell the community that this is a good place to be.”
A new business is moving in next door to Peralta’s shop, a sign perhaps that the park area’s image is improving.
“Helping my community is why I’m here,” she said. “I want to do my part in working with the city to improve Gutierrez Park.”