CANDLE COMPANY BEGINS ITS WEST COAST CONQUEST.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Now Open

The cry around the Yankee Candle Co.'s offices these days could be ``Westward Ho!''

Since its founding in 1969, the South Deerfield, Mass.-based candle maker has concentrated most of its 66 stores in and around the Northeastern United States.

But in the year since the company was acquired by New York-based private investment firm Forstmann Little & Co., Yankee Candle has been more intensively eyeing the West and this year is opening its first California stores - including one that's scheduled to open June 2 at the Northridge Fashion Center.

``It's sort of a natural westward expansion from our stronghold in the East,'' company spokesman Tim O'Brien said.

Yankee Candle Co. makes and markets scented candles. Its stores also sell related accessories such as candle holders, glassware, wick-trimming devices and candle snuffers.

The first California Yankee Candle store opened Friday in Riverside. Five other outlets are expected to open in the Southland through September, including the Northridge store.

In all, the company expects to open 40 stores around the country this year.

Meanwhile, the Northridge store is hiring personnel for a number of positions, including management. The stores typically have a management staff of three, plus five full-time employees and five part-timers, O'Brien said. And the pay can be good: $11.24 an hour to start for an assistant manager with one to two years' retail management experience.

Send resumes to Yankee Candle Co., Attention Regional HR Representative, Cambridgeside Galleria, Suite 327, 100 Cambridgeside Plaza, Cambridge, MA 02141. Fax: [phone].

Several other retailers are opening their doors in and around the San Fernando Valley. And like Yankee Candle, they need staff. Among them are:

Stein Mart, a Jacksonville, Fla.,-based discount department store that will open Thursday in the Santa Clarita Valley, is looking to fill both full-time and part-time positions, including management. Stein Mart - which describes itself as an ``upscale, off-price department store'' - is at 24955 Pico Canyon Road in Stevenson Ranch, on the corner of Pico Canyon and The Old Road. For information, stop by the store or call [phone].

Aaron Brothers Art & Framing will open a new outlet Saturday at 21480 Victory Blvd. in Woodland Hills. The store already has a management team in place and is looking for sales people and framers, no experience necessary. For information, stop in at the store Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or call [phone].

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PHOTO The Yankee Candle Co., now open in Riverside, is set to open five other stores in the region, including the Northridge Fashion Center.