TOMS RIVER – Tina’s This and That – a witch shop on Hooper Avenue – held their first outdoor vendor event to attract like-minded individuals and support small and witchy businesses like their own.
Store hours for Tina’s are normally 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., but on one special night, the spiritual supply store was open from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. with an event called the “Witches Night Market,” welcoming all visitors from avid witchcraft users to spiritual newcomers.
Along with the prolonged store hours, there were 15 different vendors set up in the parking lot of Tina’s, selling all kinds of metaphysical merchandise such as energy candles, insect memorial art, ritual artifacts and jewelry, among other things. Besides the vendors, the actual shop of Tina’s This and That was offering a spell bar with made-to-order items as well as crystals at a discounted price.
Miles of parked cars stretched the surrounding blocks of the store, bringing hundreds of interested and curious residents to the event. According to Samantha Parisi, a store manager and daughter of Tina, the event attracted an estimated 1,000 people, if not more, over its entire duration.
“We’re just blown away, we never expected that many people,” she said. “We knew some people were interested because we’ve been promoting it online and our regular customers were very excited about it, but it was still so much more than we expected. There was a sense of community that was really awesome.”
The success of business reached beyond Tina’s. Each of the vendors, who’s merchandise ranged in price from $10 to $600, completely sold out of everything they were prepared to sell.
The market attracted an estimate of over 1,000 people. (Photo by Liz Ciocher)
Although the merchandise and discounts did attract a lot of attendees, there was something about the different operating hours that was intriguing to consumers.
“I was always interested in Tina’s This and That, but I usually don’t have time to go because their hours always end before I leave my job,” said attendee Brooke Olsen, 22, of Toms River. “I was excited to hear they had something I can go to after work, and a night market for a crowd like this is definitely appealing to everyone.”
Tina’s is a very community-oriented business. Open for nearly 10 years, the shop originated from Tina, the owner, attracting customers for spiritual items while working at a local flea market. The growth and community of spiritual consumers lead to the opening of a brick and mortar store.
That sense of community came back around for the Witches Night Market, as some of the vendors have been customers of Tina’s for years.
“Everybody said they did the best they’ve ever done at a market,” Parisi said. “It was a huge success, we’re so happy because these are all small businesses and that generated a lot of income and a lot of action for them. Seeing them happy makes us very happy too.”
Besides the word of mouth from the vendors and regular consumers, social media played a big role in attracting people to the event. The store’s Facebook account publicized the event and accumulated over eight thousand responses. The shares and reposting on social media attracted new customers as well as old ones.
“I saw the night market on Facebook, and I really like crystals and jewelry, and I liked the vendors that were listed to be there, so I thought it sounded really exciting,” said Morgan Przewoznik, a 21 year-old attendee and resident of Toms River. “Unfortunately, I did not buy anything, but I contemplated many things.”
The Witches Night Market was Tina’s first production of a vendor event, but based on the success of the night, there are plans to do another event in a similar style.
The event began at 7 p.m. and ran until 10 p.m. (Photo by Liz Ciocher)
As a first-time experience, Parisi said they all learned a lot about how to run an event of this size. In preparation for another event, she said they will be making some organizational changes, including more signage and a better parking situation, to make another event run smoother for everyone.
“We are thinking about doing something like a winter market. Like a yule winter market right before the holidays,” she said. “Everybody said overall they had a great time, and everyone’s like ‘when’s the next one?’”
While the store did receive some negative backlash on social media about the event, calling the store ‘satanic’ and ‘evil,’ Parisi denies these allegations and is proud of the event’s overall positive reception.
“I think the community was very open to us, and [spirituality] is a growing thing. In our store, we sell something for everybody, so being able to have such a successful witch event was the best thing about it, there were so many positive responses,” she said.
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