Tarot/Metaphysical Store

Hey there,
I have a question for all you out there. I live in a smaller community in Canada and we have a little metaphysical store about 2 hours away, but I'm not totally satisfied with it. They carry certain things, but tarot cards are hard to come by there... I feel like it's severely lacking and it upsets me because the community I live in is very spiritual, and my belief is that if you are going to open a metaphysical store that it should be inclusive of all beliefs. I know the lady thinks tarot cards are a hoax, so she is biased. Personally, I don't feel this is right to exclude tarot readers...
What would your ideal metaphysical store look like?

It sounds to me like the owner in question has a tax write-off and not a business; although no one can tell a shop owner what they can or cannot carry in their own store. However, if one is going to bill themselves as a 'metaphysical' store (a term that is more suspect than 'Tarot,' I believe) then they should be open to all 'metaphysical' things.

My "Ideal Metaphysical Store" WOULD NOT be entirely painted purple inside or outside or possibly at all! And DEFINATELY not purple with silver stars all over the place. The items in the shop may fulfill that description, but not the store.

Secondly - NO INCESSANT BURNING OF STRONG (or any) INCENSE! Both of these contribute to the 'stereotypical' Newage/metaphyscal/feminist/Witch/Pagan store image and need to be lost as soon as possible for me. If anything screams 'HOAX' at me more, it is a purple-painted, silver star-encrusted store that you can smell a block away. {And so can every witch wannabee for miles around.}

My Ideal Metaphysical Store would have a fair selection of merchandise, and also the willingness to search out whatever it is that makes your life work for you - even if it is NOT a 'stock item.' It would cheerfully be ordered for you without making you feel like a deviant for wanting it. It would also have a staff that was interested in your business and flexible in what they stock or in the classes they provide, NOT a staff that is 'too busy' doing the latest meditation technique or reading the latest novel to wait on you.

Tarotbear and Gypsylady, I have seen stores like those you describe...annoying, aren't they?
I think the thing that has bothered me most about these places is the *aloof* and patronising staff...like, "you aren't mystical enough to shop here, and we are way more evolved than you".

I always thought being evolved made one more helpful and more - accepting, perhaps? of others' beliefs etc. Less judgmental, that's for sure!

I have been blessed here in Edmonton with the perfect store...many books, no burning incense, tons of selection, willing staff, great variety of stock and amazing silver and gemstone jewellery white walls, and very well-lit it's the store I have been wanting all my life, and here it is in the middle of nowhere, in the most industrial city you've ever seen! lol...magic

Gypsylady, if you need help getting anything, just drop me a PM and I will see what I can do for you

My IDEAL store would have;

Lots of books on different subjects BY subject.
Quite a variety of tarot decks, with a copy of each deck available to look at.
Also other types of items, like herbs, sage, candles, and other items from local artisans.
A helpful staff that would order something if they didn't have it in stock, or tell you where to get it if another store in the area does stock it. (I love places like that.)

I agree with tarotbear about the incense. Some people like it, some of it makes me feel ill.

Being in the northwest, I always like a nice river rock fireplace, wood floors, and some comfy chairs. Maybe a coffee shop right next door. Not starbucks.

edited to add - no purple stars. Ever. LOL.

We had a perfect such store in Ottawa, but the owner retired and closed it. An old house, two floors, everything just charmingly old and not fixed-up. No purple, no stars, no burning incense, no attitude, just tons of stuff jammed in: the hugest selection of decks that you could imagine, books on astrology, tarot (tons & they took suggestions), I Ching, native beliefs, Thelema, Judaism, NLP, Jungian writings, you name it! It was fabulous, now I am sad just thinking about it.

All of what you guys describe above, and a little study space/corner. I like flipping pages of my books in peace before buying it. Or reading descriptions at the back of decks. And it would be great if I had a place to sit quietly and do it in peace instead of people bumping me around trying to get to the next rack or look at books around where I am!

The store Alta mentions reminds me strongly of the store that used to be in New Haven, walking distance from my home. It was called The Elements of Life, and they had books on every subject you could think of, plenty of Tarot decks, colored candle holders, meditation tapes, music tapes (and later CDs), jewelry, decorative items, and they had a couple rooms in the back where readings were done; and there were a few comfy chairs. Glass front counters, mirrors on the wall reflecting the sparklies, dark wooden bookshelves (many), pale walls, a rug on the floor, shinies in the window; and they held workshops, and for a while they offered semi-regular Sunday meditations which I went to as often as possible. A friend and I went to one of their psychic fairs as well; they had those every once in a while, and they drew a good crowd too. Unfortunately they were victims of burnout, I guess; new partners kept inheriting the business when older ones went away, and finally the store moved away, and I think they finally went out of business. I must have bought half my stock of esoteric books from them, and some decks and almost all my meditation tapes.

I can take or leave the purple, but I like stars! In my dream metaphysical store, the ceiling is painted in blue and gold and shows the night sky, with an accurate zodiac, and the major stars represented by tiny lights.

Lots of nice wooden bookshelves. We will have loads of books, but only the good ones -- no Wicca Lite stuff. We'll order whatever customers want, of course, but my highly knowledgeable staff will steer them gently toward the better choices.

There will be a well-stocked herb section with cool-looking apothecary jars and chests with many tiny drawers. We'll sell quality incense, oils, and smudges. But we won't burn them in the store, because as pointed out by several here, the smells bother many people.

Tarot decks, of course. A really good selection, in a glass topped case, with a sample pack of each available for perusal on request. Jewelry and talismans and stuff like that. On the fun side, maybe some bumper stickers with witty sayings like "θέλημα: it's not just a good idea, it's the Law" and t-shirts with the Miskatonic University logo.

And a shop cat or two as well! But not black ones, that might be a little gratuitous. I'm thinking calicos or tortoisehells, or maybe a very dignified tuxedo cat.

Wow!! I would be in heaven if we had stores that were anything like what all of you describe!!!

House of Cards

My ideal shop is a card shop.

Decks, decks, and more decks--including "finds" such as out of print, small press and decks in less-common languages.

Tarot decks--the majority, of course, since this is my fantasy shop--- oracle decks, rare and exotic playing card decks from the four corners of the globe.

Every deck would have several sample cards on display, perhaps inserted into one of those big laminated-page books one used to see in American big box book stores.

Tarot books.

Tarot bags.

Tarot boxes.

Tarot fiction and film.

Tarot spreadcloths.

Various accoutrements for sale meant to enhance the card-reading experience: small tables, candles.

A cafe in the back that serves good versions of the basics (coffee, black tea, herbal teas) and some snacks to keep the people happy. This would hopefully be enough of a moneymaker that it could help keep the store in business. They can be cute about it and name different tea and coffee blends after the Major Arcana.

An alcove of the store featuring small square or rectangular wood tables and (comfortable) chairs. This is the where customers can sit to read for one another, and where professional readers (either in-house or contracted by the owners) do their readings.

The register area can include impulse buys of the sort that might tend to appeal to a segment of card-reading folk (loose teas, stones/crystals, and yes, tarotbear, incense).I don't use most of those things, but appreciate the atmosphere they lend to a shop.

But mostly it is a shop of cards, and reading cards.