YCC Yankee Cdle

The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. ("Yankee Candle" or the "Company") (NYSE:YCC), the leading designer, manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of premium scented candles, today announced that Hope Margala Klein has joined the Company as Vice President, General Merchandise Manager. Ms. Klein joins Yankee Candle from Organized Living, Inc. where she served as Executive Vice President, General Merchandise Manager. Ms. Klein spent the majority of her career with Limited Brands, Inc., where she held positions as Vice President, Category Leader for the Bath and Body Works Division, and Vice President, Group Product Director for the Victoria's Secrets Beauty Division. She also served as Divisional Merchandise Manager at American Eagle Outfitters prior to joining Organized Living. "We are very pleased to have Hope join our Retail Division leadership team," said Harlan Kent, President of Yankee Candle. "Our focus is on driving positive comparable store sales, and Hope has a proven track record of building sales and leading successful merchant teams. Her knowledge of specialty retail and the home decor category, together with her strong focus on trend right merchandising will be invaluable as we continue to grow our Retail business and enhance our product offerings and overall shopping experience." Ms. Klein reports to Stephen Farley, Senior Vice President, Retail, who joined the company in January 2005. "I am excited to be joining Yankee Candle, a growing and industry leading specialty retailer," said Ms. Klein. "Yankee Candle has a wonderful brand, great products, and exciting stores. I am very much looking forward to working with the entire management team to build the company's retail sales." About The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. is the leading designer, manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of premium scented candles in the giftware industry. Yankee has a 35 year history of offering distinctive products and marketing them as affordable luxuries and consumable gifts. The Company sells its products through a North American wholesale customer network of approximately 16,200 store locations, a growing base of Company owned and operated retail stores (359 located in 43 states as of July 2, 2005), direct mail catalogs, its Internet website (www.yankeecandle.com), international distributors and to a European wholesale customer network of approximately 2,200 store locations (through its distribution center located in Bristol, England). This press release may contain certain information constituting "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to any statements concerning the Company's or management's plans, objectives, goals, strategies, expectations, estimates, beliefs or projections, or any other statements concerning future performance or events. Actual results could differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the following: the current economic conditions in the United States as a whole and the continuing weakness in the retail environment; the risk that we will be unable to maintain our historical growth rate; the effects of competition from others in the highly competitive giftware industry; our ability to anticipate and react to industry trends and changes in consumer demand; our dependence upon our senior executive officers; the risk of loss of our manufacturing and distribution facilities; the impact on our stock price of seasonal, quarterly and other fluctuations in our business; and other factors described or contained in the Company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update certain forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so even if experience or future events may cause the views contained in any forward-looking statements to change.