Product and profile: Blissliving Home for fine linens

Today we are starting a new series called Product and Profile—stories about the products you love and the innovative owners, founders, or people behind them. Our feature interview is about Mei Xu, the creator of both Chesapeake Bay Candle company and Blissliving Home collection of fine linens.

Q.: I see that the founder, Mei Xu, (pictured on the right) first started in the home market with candles and actually began work in her basement. Can you tell Readers a little more about how that came to be?

A.: Mei was born and raised in China, and came to the United States in the early 1990s to pursue her graduate studies at the University of Maryland. When Mei graduated in 1994, she moved to New York City. She found herself fascinated with Manhattan’s retail heaven—and bored with her job. That is what sparked Mei and her husband David’s idea to start their own business. Mei has always had a passion for home décor. And when she travelled to Europe in the spring of 1994, she discovered candles in contemporary colors and textures. She had never seen any candles like that during her window shopping trips in Manhattan—and knew she had discovered a niche! If Americans enjoyed modern fashion, they would also like contemporary products for the home. After returning from Europe, Mei didn’t lose any time and started to learn how to make candles—and set up a candle work shop in the basement of her home in Annapolis, MD. And that is where she created the first Chesapeake Bay Candle collection only a few months later.

Q.: What was Mei Xu's background before this venture? And is this a family business? How many people are employed currently?

A.: Growing up in China in the 1970s, Mei was sent to an English immersion school where students were prepared for a career in diplomatic services. Mei truly enjoyed studying languages and cultures—and later continued her studies in this field at the Beijing Foreign Studies University. Mei’s background in foreign languages also inspired her to come to the United States.

Fifteen years after its establishment, Chesapeake Bay Candle (www.chesapeakebaycandle.com) is still a privately owned enterprise. Mei’s second venture, Blissliving Home (www.blisslivinghome.com), is privately owned as well.

In the United States Mei has about 50 staff, and in Asia there is a team of several thousand Chesapeake Bay Candle and Blissliving Home employees.

Q.: Today, we're interested mainly in talking about the Blissliving Home collection of linens; can you tell us how Mei Xu went from home fragrance into a high-end bedding line? What was her impetus for doing that?

A.: Chesapeake Bay Candle became an instant hit in the mid 1990s, as Mei started partnering with the most renowned retailers in the country. She was travelling a lot, not just between the US and Asia where she set up her manufacturing operations—but also in Europe to attend fashion shows and to visit stores, and within the United States.

As Mei traveled the world, staying in many hotels, she started to become tired of the standard stiff, white sheets. Sometimes she even packed her own. So in 2005, Mei started to plan for the launch of Blissliving Home, a home lifestyle brand that would cater to the stylish consumer seeking modern designs with global inspirations.

Q.: I have two of your pillows and I'd like to know more about the fabrics. Who chooses them and where are they manufactured?

A.: We have a sourcing team based in our Washington DC area headquarters that is managing all sourcing efforts. We work with fabric vendors around the globe, and sourcing always offers a few different (fabric) options that meet our designers’ sourcing requests. Blissliving Home has premium quality standards and our designers pick the best suitable fabric for a given style.

Q.: The patterns on the textiles are striking, what can you tell us about them? Is there a design team?

A.:  Design is Mei’s passion. She is very proud of our in-house design team, and is intimately involved in the design process. Both Chesapeake Bay Candle and Blissliving Home introduce new collections in spring and in fall. Together with our Creative Director, Carmen DeSenne, Mei conceptualizes trends—and the designers create the product collections. What inspires Mei the most are her travels around the globe. It has become a Blissliving Home design philosophy to adopt authentic cultural patterns and motifs and to update them in stylish color palettes and modern textures.

Q.: How did BlissLiving decide on their price point? And where are the products featured or available?

A.: Almost from the very start, Chesapeake Bay Candle has partnered with America’s most renowned retailers—Target, Kohl’s, JC Penney, you name them. In the Chesapeake Bay Candle start-up years, Mei was very focused on driving sales and setting up operations.

When she established Blissliving Home, Mei wanted to not only build a profitable enterprise, but a brand that people would aspire to. Every Blissliving Home product is like a piece of art—and our price points are still moderate. Duvet sets range from $200 to over $1000 and pillows range from $40 to $120. Everything is available through our online boutique—www.blisslivinghome.com and through select boutique stores around the country.

Q.: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

A.: Thank you so much for your interest. I hope your readers will enjoy Mei’s story and product designs!