When Glossy first reported on Lindsay Silberman’s Hotel Lobby Candle, it was May 2021. The magazine editor-turned-influencer-turned-entrepreneur had unveiled her candle brand in October 2020, and it debuted at Neiman Marcus. The department store remains the brand’s primary retailer, aside from its own e-commerce site. And Silberman has remained the brand’s most powerful selling tool—her 206,000 Instagram followers and 111,000 TikTok followers take her endorsements very seriously.
After four years in the candle business, Hotel Lobby Candle is ready to start its next chapter. On Tuesday, the brand began the first phase of a transition that will eventually end with a rebrand to Hotel Lobby Home — the timing of the rebrand has not yet been determined — with the launch of two new products. The new products include a $48 hand wash, with two refills selling for $52, and rattan stick diffusers, with refills selling for $74.
“In 2020, I wanted to start a candle brand – and I would have been thrilled to sell a few candles, have fans of the brand and run it as a side business,” Silberman said. “Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, and if I had thought as big as I am now, I probably would have called the brand Hotel Lobby Home from the start.”
To announce the expansion of the brand, Silberman played a little prank on her followers and launched a The Instagram account, called @hotellobbyhome, sparked a discussion questioning the origin of the account. On August 16, Silberman asked her followers via her personal account’s Instagram stories: “So, which of you started an HLC fan account? I can’t decide if I should be flattered or scared.” The account Hotel Lobby Candle (43,000 followers) shared Silberman’s posts.
The account @hotellobbyhome has now amassed 712 followers, even though it is private. The bio now reads: “A not-so-anonymous candle snob who makes fun of everything that happens at @hotellobbycandle 👀”
“We’ve been playing with the idea of having an account that feels more like a community-focused inner circle, and we thought it could be interesting and a little bit of a buzz (to set up an account) before launch,” Silberman said. Once someone’s request to follow is approved, they’ll get access to little reveals that haven’t already been shared on the @hotellobbycandle account, she said. The small subset of Hotel Lobby Candle followers who have taken the digital route to the Hotel Lobby Home account are the brand’s most engaged fans and followers. “So far, we’ve even used this as a (page for our) super VIP community (which can be a) focus group for future product launches). … It’s just experimental, but we’re having a lot of fun with it.”
As for the inspiration for the new products, Silberman said requests for diffusers began pouring in within a month of the brand’s launch, so she had hoped to expand the brand beyond candles in the first year. “I didn’t realize that making something bespoke to the quality we wanted would take so much time.” The new products feature custom glassware.
Although Silberman did not specify the investment required to enter the new category, she shared, “In 2024, we doubled our investment in inventory compared to 2023.” Hotel Lobby Candle has been entirely self-funded since its launch. Sales have tripled since December 2021 and candle sales are up 50% year over year.
This week, the brand will launch its hand soap and diffusers in three of its best-selling scents: Signature, New York and Miami. The plan is to let the community help decide what scents should come next. Silberman said she envisions Hotel Lobby Home creating hand lotions next. And as for candles, larger formats are coming for superfans and those looking to invest. The brand will also expand into body fragrance this year, though Silberman declined to share specifics.
To market the new products, the brand will work with numerous partners, focusing on ShopMy as it provides brands with data and the opportunity to discover new developers, Silberman said.
“I’d rather have a bunch of really passionate micro-influencers who care about us rather than getting gifts from 50 other brands posting about us,” she said. “When you start gifting people who get products from every major brand, you just get lost in the crowd.”
