Multiple media outlets are reporting that Michael Kittredge, founder of Yankee Candle, died yesterday in Boston, at age 67.
 
He started his entrepreneurship in home fragrance making candles in his basement. Today the brand is sold in hundreds of brand doors—and thousands of specialty shops in the U.S.
 
Kittredge retired in 1997 when he sold the company. He had suffered from various illnesses over the past decade.