Alumna Anna Eckert guides one of her customers through her store while explaining the uses of various witchcraft supplies found throughout the shop. Signs hung along the walls further describe basic aspects of witchcraft practices, such as the properties of certain herbs and crystals sold within the space.
What began as a spontaneous online shop during quarantine has now evolved into Anna’s own brick and mortar business: The Storm Witch.
“It just doesn’t feel real,” Anna said. “It’s insane [that] I own the space. I can do whatever I want with it, but sometimes it still doesn’t feel like this is my store.”
Anna first got the idea to start her own business in 2020 while in quarantine. Having practiced witchcraft since her senior year of college, she started giving tarot readings on Twitter and later taught herself to make crystal intention candles to sell online. After she became a vendor at local markets in 2021, Anna’s customer base grew rapidly.
“I did really well and I was like ‘I think I’m popular enough in Denton where I can open a shop now,’” Anna said.
Due to her quick growth, Anna said she was able to set aside a lot of savings over a short period of time. By December 2021, she was able to lease a space for her store about a year after her online shop first started.
“I wasn’t supposed to open a shop for like another few years,” Anna said. “But, it just all happened at once.”
Anna said this “divine timing” was only part of what has led to the successful opening of her storefront. While most of her online following was initially through Instagram, TikTok quickly became her largest online platform, with her following increasing from 30 thousand to over 66 thousand over the past three months.
“Apparently, if you post you have really cheap crystals at a witch shop in Texas, people start to take notice,” Anna said.
She also attributes some of her online growth to her friend, Caroline Carr, content creator and manager of The Storm Witch. Through videos on TikTok, Carr has been able to spread the word about the store, as well as her own handmade jewelry and décor sold at the shop, to her 10 million followers.
“I think people really like that raw truth about her,” Carr said. “The only reason it’s so successful is because she’s been so transparent with everybody on the internet saying ‘Hey, I want to help y’all and I will make things cheap because they should be.’ That’s definitely her appeal.”
With her growing following, Anna was expecting to be the busy opening day but did not anticipate selling out. After the shop first opened at 10 a.m. on Jan. 7, Anna said she sold out within the next 36 hours.
“It was exciting,” Anna said. “When we first opened, it was 30 degrees out and there was a line all the way down the strip for several hours. The next day I opened late to run to the crystal and herb shops to buy more stuff and then sold out of that. It was insane.”
Samuel Eckert, Anna’s husband, said The Storm Witch’s rapid success also initially surprised him. However, he said it was expected due to Anna’s natural drive.
“One thing about Anna is she doesn’t do anything halfway,” Samuel said. “[Success] was bound to happen because when she wants to do something she just sits down, figures out how to do it and works hard to get it done.”
Anna said unlike many other witchcraft stores that cater more toward experienced witches, she welcomes beginners and is happy to advise. She said does not culturally appropriate by refusing to sell certain products, like white sage or Palo Santo, which are sacred and specific to Indigenous cultures and their practices.
Additionally, she feels the store’s low prices make The Storm Witch accessible and affordable. By getting her crystals directly from a mining company, she is able to set their prices three to four times lower than other witch shops in the area.
“I’m not doing this for the profit sake of it, I’m doing it to help people, which is also why my prices are so low,” Anna said.
While Anna still finds herself overwhelmed with the rapid transitions of her business, she believes all of the work and stress is worth it. She said that while she is still operating on a day-by-day basis, she eventually plans to get a bigger space and expand beyond her current 500 square feet shop.
Although she has not heard of many online businesses transitioning this quickly and knows the difficulties that come along with it, Anna advises other aspiring business owners to simply go for it.
“Don’t try to over-plan, just do it,” Anna said. “Just go, just run with it. Because that’s how I did the shop. I couldn’t overthink it.”
The Storm Witch is located at 507 S. Locust St. More information about the store can be found on Anna’s Instagram or TikTok.
Featured image: A lit candle on the community alter in the Storm Witch shop on Jan. 25, 2022. Photo by Jami Hitchcock.