In 1991 Opal Moon was born - a tiny baby of a shop - comprising a unit in the upper floor of DeCourcys Arcade, a small, ramshackle shopping arcade in the west end of Glasgow. Very "hippy boho", the arcade had long served the westend's eclectic mix of residents with an array of handmade clothes, arts & crafts, 2nd hand records & tarot readings. It seemed like the perfect place for me to open my little dream shop! Having no previous retail experience (my job prior to opening the shop had been as a library assistant in Glasgow University Library), I launched myself into business following my heart & not my head! For a while I had been making jewellery - simple designs using wire, beads & crystals, & my decision to open the shop was initially as an outlet for these creations, with a few other esoteric bits & pieces on the side.
Much like a piece of freeform art, my little shop gradually began to take shape. Decorated with purple fabrics & handpainted moons & stars, a magical theme was on the cards right from the start! Crystals & semi-precious stones featured prominently in my jewellery, rekindling the fascination I had had with them as a young girl (to this day I still treasure my first ever crystal specimen - a piece of unpolished gold tiger eye given to me by my uncle!). In no time at all I was filling the shop with these treasures of the earth..learning as I went along - delving headfirst into the fascinating, glittering world of crystals. The shop was tiny, but packed full of beautiful sparkly things - a real little Aladdin's Cave! As I worked away, making my jewellery in the shop & constantly discovering new things to introduce, Opal Moon's stock began expanding to include inspirational artcards, incense, relaxing tapes (there were no CDs in those days, let alone Ipods!), & anything else that felt right. Before long I had totally run out of space! Fortunately Opal Moon had no next door neighbour at the time, and could expand easily into the next unit.
I have always been taken aback by people's response to my little shop! So many customers over the years have told me how much they enjoy spending time here...just soaking up the atmsosphere - the gentle music, the beautiful scents of the incense & oils, & the energies of the crystals all combine the make something truly magical! As the years progressed, & Opal Moon became more established, another wall was knocked down, & then we were 3 (units!)...a long, narrow shop...packed with magical stock.
During this time, a few personal changes had taken place for me too. I temporarily moved down to London, where I sold my jewellery to various like-minded shops. I took a weekend stall in the vibrant & exciting Camden Market - it was all quite an adventure for a quiet Glasgow girl! During this time Opal Moon continued to thrive, in the care of good friends & with me visiting once a month to catch up. After two years, the pace of London became a little too fast for me, & I returned home to the west end of Glasgow, & back to spend more time in my wee shop again.
Over the next few years more big changes took place for me, as my little boy Jack was born. Opal Moon got a refurb, respendant in purple & turquoise, & continued to go from strength to strength. For a while I enjoyed having 2 shops within the arcade - I expanded our book stock & opened "Opal Moon Books".
Perhaps a bit of a luxury...a bookshop completely dedicated to the spiritual, magical & holistic! I loved having the bookshop..however after awhile it became apparent that running two shops meant twice as much expense, which I couldn't quite manage to cover, so decided afer much soul-searching to give this up, & squash the books back into the original Opal Moon shop!
In 2006 we celebrated Opal Moon's 15th birthday with the first proper Opal Moon Event - a fantastic evening of talks, readings, therapies, food, drink & general fun & frolics! Unable to fit all of these activities into our tiny, packed out shop, we expanded for the evening into the corridor & other units in the arcade (with the permission of some lovely & obliging fellow shop-keepers!) I was absolutely overwhelmed by the response we had to our Birthday Bash - it was a fantastic night & certainly the best 15th birthday party I've ever been to!
The following year big changes were taking place in the arcade. Many of the shops in the upper floor were closing, & the arcade itself was undergoing a huge transformation under new ownership. My husband Al was made redundant from his job in Lost in Music, the record shop in the arcade where he had worked for 20+ years. Faced with this huge shake-up, it was time for a change! Al & I decided to go into partnership, with Al focusing on our online activities, & the book-keeping side of things (which I am incredibly bad at!) For some time I had thought how good it would be to be able to offer customers the chance to have a tarot reading, a massage, or some other treatment, as part of their visit to Opal Moon. I also recognised the need for small, informal workshops & classes on subjects such as crystal therapy, angels, tarot, etc. - something to allow people to learn more without making the commitment to enrole in a longer "course". We just needed to find premises that would be suitable for offering these services. After a great deal of searching around, we found the perfect premises - our current location in Queen Margaret Drive - a lovely big shop, with 2 rooms at the back - one for use as an office, & the other for our therapy room. The shop was big enough for us to host workshops & classes too.
We've enjoyed our "new" premises for over 2 years now - having so much space to display our lovely stock has been wonderful. Customers no longer trip over baskets of incense on the floor when they come in, & amazingly we can fit more than 3 people in the shop at a time, which is something we struggled with in our old shop! We have a fantastic array of different therapies & consultations on offer, & have been able to host regular workshops & events. We've made lots of new friends, & many of our older customers have tracked us down at our new location! Personally I feel blessed to have been the proud owner of Opal Moon over the past 18+ years. I've had a wonderful opportunity to learn & have met so many amazing people along the way. Coupled with this I've spent a great part of my time surrounded by all my favourite things, in truly magical surroundings! Of course none of it would have been possible without the loyalty, enthusiasm & hard work of the good friends & colleagues who I've had the pleasure of working with throughout the years. Special mention should be given to my friend Marina, who kept everything sparkly & bright for me while I went off on my travels,; to Eryn - our much-loved Kiwi manageress & Ace Tarot Reader, who's amazing organizational skills have transformed the way Opal Moon operates; to Susan (& Scully!), who have stuck by Opal Moon through thick & thin & brought an abundance of enthusiasm, as well as copious amounts of tables & shelving units throughout the years; & Laura, who's spread her lovely, gentle, calm energy through her meditation class, her inspirational art, & her work in the shop.
We've been lucky in so many ways over the past couple of years in Opal Moon, but like so many other businesses, the recession has taken its toll. Our beautiful, big shop has been proving difficult to maintain, & it's cost us a fortune to heat!! It was looking very likely that at the end of January we would be closing a chapter on Opal Moon & giving up having a shop for while. However, the Goddess works in mysterious ways, & at the last minute the opportunity arose for us to relocate! So in the next few weeks we will be packing our crystals into well-padded boxes, & moving them once more! We don't have far to go - just a few doors along from our current premises, still on Queen Margaret Drive! The new Opal Moon will be much smaller & cosier (& yes, you may find yourself tripping over baskets of incense once more!). Financially & physically our new shop will be much easier for us to maintain, & we'll be able to focus more clearly on building our stock & once again filling our shelves with the most beautiful, spiritually inspired goods that we can find! We are also looking forward with great enthusiasm to continuing to build our business online & also increasing our presence at fairs & special events.
Sadly, we won't have the space to accomodate therapies, readings, workshops & events. However we do feel extremely honoured to have been able to do so for the past two & a half years, & sincerely hope that we've played some part in bringing people together to heal, learn, develop & have fun!
We look forward to seeing all of our customers & friends in our new shop in February. We hope that you will continue to be part of Opal Moon's amazingly magical journey! Joan, January 2010