Starting Up a Pagan Store

Editor: The following was provided by one of our correspondents, Valeri Ann Emmons, co-owner of Earth Cauldron.

My business partner (Carley Cascio) and I just recently opened our own online metaphysical shop “Earth Cauldron” [in the Houston area, ed.]. The idea to start up this business came from many trips to the few stores in our area where we couldn’t find what we were looking for, or the stores wouldn’t be open. We decided then to start our business so that all the people we knew wouldn’t have trouble getting supplies.

The process is not an easy one and costly. We started with finding venders. Finding one vender isn’t hard, but finding a variety of venders so that you can provide your customers with a wider variety of items is slightly more complicated. We now have six venders at our disposal and are in the works of getting more. Since our goal is to provide our customers with everything they need, we want to make sure that if they want it we can get it for them. This means buying in bulk, items that you may only need one of at the time. This is costly, and creating an inventory for your business will put you in the red. This is where faith comes in play.

Getting registered as a business, as well as obtaining permits and licenses was a process that consisted of a lot of legal work as well as a lot of stares and questions. Starting up this type of business puts you in a position to have to explain a lot of yourself and your beliefs. My partner and I had many conversations through the process of explaining what it was “exactly” we were selling. The term is “metaphysical”, but it seems like no one knows what that is. I used the term “spiritual supplies”, but that didn’t satisfy their curiosities. Eventually, we would just have to be blunt about it and say we sell “witch stuff”. That would lead to the explanation of who we are, what we are, and what we believe in. Not the type of conversation you think you would be having in a bank.

Promoting your business is time consuming. Not as time consuming as creating your website or entering inventory into your system, but it does take many hours and the help of those who love and support you. Currently Earth cauldron has expanded our network all over the United States. The word is out and it’s everywhere that Earth Cauldron is open for business.

Being different is important to us, so we have started a new concept called the “Supplies Drop”. Currently it is in effect only in our North Houston and surrounding areas. We have teamed up with the North Houston Pagan- Earth Cauldron groups to advertise their group’s meet and greets on our page. We offer a Supplies Drop at their Meet and Greet should their members order from us by a certain date. If the members order by that date and choose pick up, they will receive FREE shipping and can pick up their order at the groups Meet & Greet. This promotes our site as well as the groups Meet & Greet. More people will attend if they are going to pick up supplies and get free shipping on their items. The group information is on our website under FYM (For Your Members). We are always looking for more groups who are interested in participating in the supply drop as well as adding their group information to our site in order to help fellow Pagans find groups in their areas. We have four groups from Austin already listed as well as one group in Houston.

Earth Cauldron is registered with Harris County and licensed with the State of Texas. We are as official as it gets. We provide payment through PayPal so your information is always secure. Visit our site at www.earthcauldron.com and you can also find our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Earth-Cauldron/247817195324875 . We are ready to provide everyone with the supplies and novelty items they want and need at an affordable price. Again, if there isn’t an item listed on the website that you are in need of, contact us at 832-228-0819 or by email at earthcauldron@yahoo.com and we will find it for you.