Marking its 25th year in business, Sedona is about to make a big move — not to a faraway location, but right next door, to space that is 2,080 square feet, 40 percent bigger than the current shop, which is roughly 1,400 square feet.
More space will allow for expanded lines of merchandise, from aromatherapy stuff to Zen-enhancing gemstones. The new store will feature deep, "dramatic" colors including purple and turquoise, said store co-owner Malia Johnson.
Where the current store is "yin, now we’re going yang," she said with a chuckle.
She and her husband, Martin, started Sedona in a 626-square-foot location in Ward Centre in 1988, shortly after the Harmonic Convergence, the world’s first globally synchronized meditation (in 1987).
Just as a point of information, the 2013 Harmonic Convergence occurred Thursday and Friday, according to a Facebook page created for the event.
Sedona later moved to its current location, and through the various economic cycles, Johnson has diversified her revenue streams, so now her space again is too small.
Johnson added one nontraditional retail revenue stream by making spiritual readings of various sorts available.
The new space will have two "experiential rooms" that will be used for psychic readings, intuitive counseling, astrological forecasting, feng shui consultation, gem shows and more such activities, she said.
More readers will be available, from two a day to three or four per day. Virtual services via Skype also are available, and the store and its readers have far-flung clientele in Japan, New Zealand and on the mainland. she said.
The product lines also will expand.
Since the opening of Bed Bath & Beyond, she has seen an increase in families coming to Ward Centers, so the new store will include a section for wee ones, ages "0 to 5," she said. Items will include bedtime storybooks and interactive books as well as "supercute" stuff for young children.
The line of accessories will expand, including "feel-good, pick-me-up" stuff "that won’t break the bank," she said.
Cosmetics and skin care lines Johnson found suitable for Sedona will be added to the merchandise mix as well.
The new Sedona also will offer "free and easy clothing" that is comfortable to wear and looks good, she said. Nothing clingy or binding, she added.
Given the myriad high-rise developments planned for the area, the new shop also will offer an expanded line of home decor.
Customers who stop in the store to buy beads and stones for jewelry making at home, or to create make-and-take jewelry, a service offered for $12.50 plus materials, will find an expanded Bead Bar.
"Twenty-five percent of our beads … the higher-end ones, are not out on display," due to lack of space in the current shop, she said. Those will be in full view for perusal in the new store.
People have encouraged her over the past 25 years to expand outward and establish more stores.
"Being a metaphysical person, I have to be able to hold the energy of the store," and having multiple locations would make that impossible, Johnson said.
She likes to recycle, "upcycle," re-purpose and keep stuff out of landfills, she said, so just as she bought store fixtures for her first store from the old McInerny when it was going out of business, she will move into her new store with fixtures purchased from the downtown Macy’s as it was closing.
In preparation for the end-of-the-month move-out, Sedona is having a "We Don’t Want to Pack It" sale, with merchandise from 20 percent to 75 percent off through Aug. 25.
The new Sedona is slated to open in September, depending on the progress of the build-out work.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
