In support of your local new age shop

It is hard to find to somehow find the right smaller shop

When visiting in laws in the Mid West, a theme shop sometimes feels a little too touristy or community centric, so what we find is limited. Locally I can buy incense in an Asian or East Indian grocery store, a figurine of the particular pantheon or seasomal decor at a fabric/crafts store for less.

But I have huntefd up botanicas, wellness retreat gift stores and even university gift stores to see...a candle, book or small stones or postcards work for presents.

Sometimes the dollar store can yield cards...sometimes university bookstores have decks.

Cerulean

Yineth said:

I would honestly love to support the New Age shd in a way thatps in my area, but they're really just too far away for me to get to. The nearest is maybe an hour and a half away.

I was lucky enough to visit one of the closer New Age shops in my area. I'll have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with the interior and the stock. I guess I was hoping more to enter into a shop that was less Buddhism-focused, hehe. I definitely felt uncomfortable about the location of where the shop was. Street parking is the bane of my existence >_<
I'm not trying to hate on the shop and its owner, but I do feel the location could have used a different scenery at least (ie. Not next to so many Hookah bars and tattoo parlors.)

I've never tried Hookah or received a tattoo, so my opinion here may be very biased :I

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IMHO, small stores have to face the reality of the world we live in today. Lower prices and better selection from online stores are not going to disappear anytime soon. These stores are successful because they respond to what the consumer wants.

If mom & pop stores want to survive, they have to rethink their business models to more accurately reflect and respond to consumer demand: things like forming associations to improve buying power, offering value-added propositions (such as free classes, frequent buyer rewards). They need to use creative advertising to drum up hype, be involved in their community, and also capitalize on the power of immediate gratification that internet buying can't offer. They have to come up with things that their customer wants/needs, but can't get from the internet, because there's just no way of competing with that.

A new shop has just opened up nearby. They have a small but decent selection of decks, some of which I've not yet seen in any brick & mortar shop, so I'm hopeful for their success. They offer readings, seminars & classes, and a potion & powder apothecary.

bogiesan,

Thanks for posting this. I had read a much-less detailed, less expose`-like article a few years back about the temp workers hired by companies like Amazon. That article took a more "pro and con" approach and profiled some retirees who were grateful for the much-needed extra income and the opportunity it afforded them to travel around in their RV trailer. However, I had no doubt at the time that conditions for the workers were likely draconian, and this Mother Jones piece supports that view.

Someone forwarded me this slideshow about why we shouldn't rely on Amazon:

http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/168179/ten-reasons-avoid-doing-business-amazoncom

But what stood out to me was the link within that slideshow to another article about how Germany's independent booksellers have managed to survive the digital age:

http://www.thenation.com/article/168124/how-germany-keeps-amazon-bay-and-literary-culture-alive

(I have not read the second link, but I will when I get the chance).

I have been a very great "friend" to Amazon these many a year. I do a huge amount of business with them, even for non-perishable grocery items and toiletries. And yes, I have a Prime subscription, and the free fast shipping and handling helps.

But lately, I have been reflecting on the unsavory underpinnings of just how that fast "handling" is achieved. Articles have certainly contributed to this feeling, although my own conscience started the ball rolling.

Maya Angelou's oft-quoted axiom--"When you know better, you do better"--is not necessarily the case for human beings. Many times, we *do* know better, yet continue to do the things we know are harmful (whether to ourselves or others). Many people know that X is not beneficial to humanity--that Y would be better and more helpful, more "morally correct." But Y requires us to step out of our comfort zones, and that is a very hard thing for most of us to do.

Amazon works like a dream for me. I has definitely improved my quality of life (in allowing me to afford things I otherwise couldn't, and in getting them to me so quickly and easily). But I know it does not contribute to the quality of life for others (its temp workers; independent sellers in whom I have an interest in seeing survive; and the planet, which suffers from the excess packaging for which Amazon is notorious). I know better, so I'm going to try to do a little better, even if only marginally so at first. Your post is a reminder to keep my consciousness high and help raise awareness among others, so thanks for that.

I do not have a metaphysical shop where I live, but I recently visited a city that had a well-established (though small, space-wise) and enduring one. I made a journey by bus and train to get to that shop, and,despite my current financial precariousness/extreme lack of money to spare, I went there prepared to give it my custom. I set aside a certain amount of money that I knew I would use to buy decks (and it was an inflated price as compared to am Amazon or ebay or other online seller one, allowing for the prices of small independent shops).

Unfortunately, for someone who spent several years in the 90s and 2000s collecting decks willy-nilly (and for someone who now collects in a much different fashion--with extreme discrimination) , the few times I enter such shops and look over their selections, it quickly becomes apparent that I already own most of their stock.

That was what I had to tell the attentive shop assistant, with regret: "I already own many of these decks, and the newly published ones you just pointed out are all themes I don't care for [goth and self-consciously 'dark']."

So, instead, I bought some incense and a deck companion book I was 99% certain could be found on Amazon or ebay for much less (and in better, non-thumbed-through condition), but I doggedly bought it at the shop.

And it was a nice memento of the trip to that city. How many times do we click "Buy Now" on decks or books and feel no connection to that purchase, any more than we'd remember consuming a bit of fast food or street vendor fare (as opposed to a special occasion meal at a sit-down restaurant)? The only "Buy Now" I remember was the very first time I purchased a deck on Amazon.com; I remember clearly the park bench where I sat and opened the box-- "Decks from Amazon.com; who knew? "

Famous last words.


.

The smallish city I live in supports about 5 new age shops precariously. Periodically, one closes and a new one opens. The most successful of them manages by having lots of jewelry, statues, incense burners, wee cauldrons, etc...light on books and decks, several locally known readers and a great location. The ones oriented to Wiccans do best financially. Lets face it, Buddhists don't need a lot of stuff, and the Hindu stuff is more reasonably available at the Indian markets.

I think it all comes down to money. Money enough to get a good location, pay for advertising, stock the store well and keep it that way. And the business sense to have a feel for what pepole want...and enough people to man the store without getting exhausted and surly. And especially, money enough to keep it going until it catches on and can support itself.

The readings and classes help with the store's income, but again, people have to know you're there..and want what you're offering.

So I don't chalk it up to Amazon so much as a Massive Lack of Money to start up and to hang in there. I buy from local shops and online shops and yes, Amazon. But I like the small shops best, and use them whenever I can.

magpie9 said:

The ones oriented to Wiccans do best financially. Lets face it, Buddhists don't need a lot of stuff, and the Hindu stuff is more reasonably available at the Indian markets.

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Good observation.

Let's take the demographics analysis a step further, too: a certain percentage of tarotists are 'secular,' whether in their intentions in card-reading or the fact they use cards for gaming instead of reading. I fall more or less into the former group. While I appreciate incense, candles, and minerals/gemstones for their own merits ( entirely apart from tarot), other secular tarotists may not, and I imagine a traditional bookseller or online retailer like Amazon would be a more likely place for no-trappings folks to shop than an esoteric, metaphysical or "New Age" -billed shop.

Chiriku said:

Good observation.

Let's take the demographics analysis a step further, too: a certain percentage of tarotists are 'secular,' whether in their intentions in card-reading or the fact they use cards for gaming instead of reading. I fall more or less into the former group. While I appreciate incense, candles, and minerals/gemstones for their own merits ( entirely apart from tarot), other secular tarotists may not, and I imagine a traditional bookseller or online retailer like Amazon would be a more likely place for no-trappings folks to shop than an esoteric, metaphysical or "New Age" -billed shop.

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I think the most appealing thing for the "secular" readers in the New Age shops is when they have a variety of sample decks that people can actually look through, vs peering at the box hopefully. The new age shop that did best here in the last 30+ years had that and everyone went there for their decks. Unfortunately, the owner closed it and moved to Vegas a few years back. That forced the other new age shops to beef up there deck selection, but as none of them invested in open sample decks, no one became the leader in tarot sales. It's pretty much the same old small standard selection anywhere you go. It has become increasingly difficult to get interesting or non-standard decks here.

I understand there are two sides to the argument here. I would love to be in the position of making use of local stores, but taking off the issue of higher costs compared to Amazon (and that will be the difference for many people), availability is a huge issue - both of stores and the type of decks I would want to buy.

I live in Christchurch NZ. We did have a 'new age' shop in two of our malls. They have sadly closed, the latest closing only in the last few weeks. I am not aware of any other shop I could use, and since the earthquakes wiped out our city centre - I wouldn't even know where to start looking now.

The other issue is availability of decks. The shops that closed did have a handful of tarot decks (and the costs were amazingly high) but it was only a handful of the regulars, such as RWS. The bulk of the decks were oracle decks, with the bulk of them being by Doreen Virtue. It is understandable the small local sellers will only stock decks they know they can sell over time. It is not in their interest to purchase decks that are not of the 'norm', which are likely to sit on their shelves for ever and a day. And if I asked them to source a deck they did not have, I know they are likely to go to the sources I could go to, including Amazon.

It is sad to say but I will have two resorts if buying new and not trading with the wonderful people here: BD and Amazon.

It is a harsh world we live in, and one that is changing. I am not going to feel guilty at the fact I am using online suppliers, which due to their popularity are now putting small owners out of business. If the two could co-exist side by side on equal terms, it would be the best solution, but sadly my magic wand packed up years ago.

'If' amazon is a place of cruel and unusual punishment to work, I'd also like to point out, so can be working for a mom and pop. Yes, occasionally you all become like a family, but we know all about dysfunctional families too. Don't pay enough, don't offer benefits, you draw the worst hours on the worst days, often in spaces that are low rent...leaking, no air conditioning, toilet doesn't always work on demand, grabby bosses who can be really really poor business persons, if business is slow non-family is the first to go, even if some of the family help is piss poor at PR, drug addicted, slovenly, rude, and dips into the till. and who gets blamed?

Seen it all, there aren't many perfect places to work in this world.

AJ said:

Seen it all, there aren't many perfect places to work in this world.

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Loud and clear!

I just don't like the idea of buying online. A lot of it has to do with state taxes. I don't want to have to be responsible for keeping track of whatever I buy during the year so I can report the difference between what taxes I did pay and what my state charges. And that's what my state expects people to do! I love my home, but FIE on some legislators...!

That said, I find that it's easier to find strange Tarot decks in person than to find strange playing card decks in person!! Some of those beauties we've been off-and-on discussing over in Oracles I'm afraid can't be gotten anywhere except online!

I would buy from a brick-and-mortar new age shop if I could. Unfortunately, the one we had in my area closed more than five years ago. Now I buy my decks from bookstore chains.