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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect the hippy woo shop to be relaxing (light hearted)

60 replies

bestcattoyintheworld · 28/10/2021 14:57

We sometimes visit a hippy woo type shop in the nearby town. It's full of lovely incense, mobiles, crystals, clothing etc. and it's well worth visiting......

However......

.........The atmosphere is so tense when you go inside 😬

They have relaxing spa music playing and books on yoga, but the people who staff it are downright scary. You're glared at as soon as you enter, there's lists of rules on the walls - not covid related - questions are answered with a bark and the people are tense and irritable. I can't wait to leave. Dh agrees that it has a tense vibe.

I think visiting a hippy woo shop should be nice and relaxing, AIBU?

OP posts:
Eleganz · 28/10/2021 16:59

I've always found that hippy woo merchants are massively intense control freaks who can't abide having their world views challenged to be honest so that is exactly the atmosphere I would expect upon entering such an establishment. Probably why I don't got in to them.

Boudiccasback · 28/10/2021 17:01

I love a bit of hippy woo, there is a lovely shop near me. However, some do take themselves very seriously!! I had a friebd who was apparently having a spirtal awakening which seemed to give her freedom to act like a massive dick.🤷‍♀️

CruCru · 28/10/2021 17:04

I grew up in Brighton, where there used to be a whole bunch of these shops (fewer now). They have a horrific problem with shoplifting - it’s possible that rules about not handling crystals etc are more to do with this.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 28/10/2021 17:04

There's one of these shops near where I live. It has that similar strained vibe. I don't go in now because the lady behind the counter stares so viciously, but we live in a tourist trap so maybe the out of town people nick things!

Craftycorvid · 28/10/2021 17:06

Something or other will have been retrograde with Mercury, OP. Grin. There’s a marvellous number of hippy woo emporia in the South West - one in particular presided over by a magnificently imposing lady with a challenging array of piercings and some equally challenging ‘art’ in the window - including wonderfully creepy dolls. I’m a fully paid up old witch but I don’t always wear the full ‘look’ and get mistaken for someone who wandered in by accident. Seems to annoy them no end when I’m totally unfazed by anything.

Original poster
bestcattoyintheworld · 28/10/2021 17:35

Go in and burn some sage next time.

😆😆😆

OP posts:
PeterPomegranate · 31/10/2021 08:42

@CruCru

I grew up in Brighton, where there used to be a whole bunch of these shops (fewer now). They have a horrific problem with shoplifting - it’s possible that rules about not handling crystals etc are more to do with this.
That makes more sense.
WhoWants2Know · 31/10/2021 08:47

Their familiar probably shat on the rug that morning.

MrsMadderRose · 31/10/2021 10:49

Interesting about the shoplifting - does that mean a lot of hippy woo customers are also not full of love and philanthropy? Or is it a more organised thing because crystals are easy to pocket?

I used to go to these shops a lot in my more hippyish youth, especially when I had a really hippy boyfriend. There are fewer of them now but what I notice is the ones that still exist are exactly the same! Nothing in them ever changes. The hippy aesthetic is not subject to the winds of fashion.

Siriisatwat · 31/10/2021 10:54

We had one of those on the little high street where I used to live, i went in there to buy incense a couple of times (old, incontinent cat), and the atmosphere was awful. The hard sell as well, they tried to flog me £50 tarot cards and wouldn’t leave it, kept trying to “read” me too and telling me lots of generic crap so I’d be hooked in to pay for one. I never went in again after that, I can’t bear being hounded.

Still, it was west london so the rent must have been staggering, the shop was always empty so I understand the hard sell.

CruCru · 31/10/2021 11:28

@MrsMadderRose

Interesting about the shoplifting - does that mean a lot of hippy woo customers are also not full of love and philanthropy? Or is it a more organised thing because crystals are easy to pocket?

I used to go to these shops a lot in my more hippyish youth, especially when I had a really hippy boyfriend. There are fewer of them now but what I notice is the ones that still exist are exactly the same! Nothing in them ever changes. The hippy aesthetic is not subject to the winds of fashion.

I think it’s more that these places tend to be dimly lit and have lots of glittery stuff in them. As you say, quite small so easy to pinch. It may also be that they’re more interesting than other shops and encourage browsing - but perhaps someone who knows more about the psychology of shoplifters will come on to tell us whether the Unicorn place / other woo shops get more pinched than, say, Poundstretcher.
IWentAwayIStayedAway · 31/10/2021 11:38

Lol their sister branch exists in northern ireland. Independent for 30 plus years but sooooo unfriendly unless you know the owner! Regularly spend 30 pounds a visit on food stuffs but defo get the up and down look. They had family visiting pre covid and a precocious child was having tantrums if not allowed to ring up customers shopping. Parents unable to parent (they wanted to leave) but child was allowed to stay/ be indulged. I pretented to read labels at back of shop for a long time till she eventually was frog marched out of the shop. Owner thought it was all delightful. Gosh that was cathartic to offload!

Original poster
bestcattoyintheworld · 31/10/2021 12:15

Being hippy woo sounds stressful 😬 I only like the stuff because of the aesthetic and it smells nice.

I guess the shoplifting could be an issue because some of the stuff is small.

OP posts:
LadyJJ · 31/10/2021 13:07

Its not the one in St Ives is it?

Original poster
bestcattoyintheworld · 31/10/2021 13:08

No, not St Ives. Other end of the country.

OP posts:
ThePlantsitter · 31/10/2021 13:18

Hippy woo shops are always like this. Signs saying 'breakages must be paid for' etc all over the place and other customers trying to make friends with the owners, who are barely concealing their contempt and at the same time giving your ten year old daggers.

Original poster
bestcattoyintheworld · 31/10/2021 13:56

Hippy woo shops are always like this. Signs saying 'breakages must be paid for' etc all over the place and other customers trying to make friends with the owners, who are barely concealing their contempt and at the same time giving your ten year old daggers.

Interesting. We don't get many hippy woo shops in my area, so I'm not used to visiting them. We used to have one and then they closed down. The woman used to nab you when you entered and then talked the hind legs off a donkey at you. I used to send dh in first to engage her whilst I hurriedly looked at stuff.

I'm thinking these places aren't meant to be relaxing. More an endurance test of nerves.

OP posts:
Original poster
bestcattoyintheworld · 31/10/2021 13:59

The question is, does being hippy woo make you miserable or does being miserable make you turn to the hippy woo to try and make you feel better? 🤔

And

Do the crystals still work if they've been shoplifted?

OP posts:
Pumpkinstace · 31/10/2021 14:08

YANBU

There is one in Chester.
Small, you have to step over baskets of fabric and shells and stuff to get around the shop.

So many tie dye throws with tassles hanging up that it's hard to know what are public and what are staff only area.

Overpowering incense smell

Stared at and followed around the tiny claustrophobic place.

ChurchofLatterDayPaints · 31/10/2021 14:26

In answer to OP's question: it's the second one. Ime "woo" stuff reaches the MH issues the NHS can't reach, and costs a lot less than private. But if people are shoplifting crystals then nothing will help them, as their intentions are wrong.

What pp said about theft in these shops is sadly true.

trappedsincesundaymorn · 31/10/2021 14:31

The hippy woo shop in the small market town near me (which is also not that far away from Glastonbury), used to have an assistant who would insist that she was unable to sell any crystals until she had asked if they (the crystals), were happy to to begin "a new awakening with this person's spirit". I think the crystals may have exacted their revenge as she doesn't work there anymore.

Giggorata · 31/10/2021 16:23

One of my friends owns a shop like this, and she is a lovely person who creates a great atmosphere.
Loads of repeat customers and some tourists.

There are a couple in Glastonbury I don't like much.

MrsMadderRose · 31/10/2021 16:39

The hippy woo shop in the small market town near me (which is also not that far away from Glastonbury), used to have an assistant who would insist that she was unable to sell any crystals until she had asked if they (the crystals), were happy to to begin "a new awakening with this person's spirit".

How could she tell what their answer was? Confused

If they weren't keen, did she send the customer packing? It's a bit like the League of Gentlemen Local Shop. "Don't touch the Precious Things of the shop!" :o

kwiksavenofrillsusername · 31/10/2021 16:44

My local hippy shop is like this. I went in while pregnant and the incense got right up my nose, leading to a coughing fit. As I headed for the door, I overheard the owner say to her friend “oh for fuck sake. That woman is being ridiculous.”

If I need dragon statues or crystals, I’ll just buy them direct from China via AliExpress in future.

RAFHercules · 31/10/2021 23:09

My friend bought a love spell in Glastonbury, it didn't work. She's still single 8 years on.

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