The venerable Woodstock candle shop Candlestock — celebrating its 50th anniversary this year — used to have a second outlet on Main Street in New Paltz back in the 1970s, called Candlestock II. It was popular with students and weekenders alike; but somewhere along the line, the satellite store was closed, and this village hasn’t had an emporium devoting itself primarily to candles in the decades since. Does that make sense, in a community known for its hippie culture, hordes of souvenir-hunting visitors from the Big Apple and occasional power outages? Ingrid Heins doesn’t think so. “Everybody buys candles,” she says. “Everybody likes candles.”

Heins, who lives in Wallkill, chose the former site of the Village Cutter, set back behind and just south of Bacchus Billiards, to be the headquarters for her new business: Little Light of Mine Village Candle. The shop officially opened on February 9, with hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, expected to expand when the winter weather leaves us. On a nice weekend, you’ll find vats of beeswax melting over heaters behind the front counter, with wicks weighted and ready for dipping and the proprietor eager to guide you through a demonstration of how to make taper candles by hand. “I always have the pots on,” she says.