Owner plans shop expansion

In summer 2009, Janet Dixon, then a merchandiser for Discover credit cards, was posting credit card stickers on business windows throughout Georgetown.

She stopped inside Scentchips, which was then located by The Palace Theater, to cool down. Dixon said she was hit by the store's products and fragrant smells. Without much research, Dixon and her husband, Chris, decided to buy the store. A year and a half later, they bought out His and Hers Treasures and settled into the store's location on Eighth Street.

"I just knew that this is where I needed to be, and I knew I could make it work," Dixon said. "[You] don't think a whole lot about it, you just step off a cliff, and you know there's a ledge down there that's going to catch you."

Scentchips is part of a franchise headquartered in San Antonio on the River Walk. The company produces pieces of wax of more than 100 different fragrances that can be mixed and matched in melting pots, similar to other flameless candles. The company's products are soy-based and made in Texas.

Dixon said she has experienced health benefits from certain Scentchips blends as well. She and several of her customers use the Fresh Air blend, which uses eucalyptus and peppermint fragrances, by their beds each night. Since using Fresh Air, Dixon said she has stopped having symptoms of asthma.

"It's improved my overall health," she said. "I haven't had cedar fever one time in three years, and everybody has it."

The store also sells gifts and other home decor. Dixon stocks masquerade masks and pipes, pipe tobacco, hookah and shisha. She also tries to cater to male shoppers by carrying flasks, pistol holsters and a variety of cigars.

Dixon hopes to expand upon her tobacco stock and cigar humidor by opening Insiders, a planned wine and cigar bar inside Scentchips. The bar will pair cigars with wine and beer selections, and offer a cigar club with locker humidors for members. Dixon also plans to add indoor and outdoor seating and build a roof on the patio behind her store for a smoking area. She hopes the bar will be open for the Georgetown Swirl in March.

Men will also be able to relax at Insiders and enjoy cigars and drinks while their wives shop on the Square.

"You bring them over to Insiders, you drop them off and let Mama Janet babysit, and you go shopping and enjoy yourself," she said. "I'll keep an eye on the guys."

In the spring, Dixon plans to restart hookah nights on the patio, and hold girls' nights that will include manicures, pedicures, massages, wine, cheese, pole dancing exercise lessons and horse-drawn carriage rides.

Scentchips, 112 W. Eighth St., 512-819-9640, www.georgetown.scentchips.com