A popular folk art and witch craft store in the US has announced it is set to make its debut in Scotland with a shop set to open in the heart of the capital.
The Massachusetts-based The Witchery is set to open its brand new sister store, Wheel of Fate, located in Causewayside in the coming weeks.
Mother and daughter team Gret McGilvray and Tara McGilvray-Guard have secured a two-year lease on the Edinburgh property with the ambition to grow, expand and maintain their place within the bustling city. This new venture follows the exceptional growth of the popular US store.
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The Edinburgh store will offer authentic and memorable crafting workshops, including broom making, bookbinding, and fibre arts, as well as hosting private bookings for hen parties, alternate team building days, writers' conventions, and birthdays.
Alongside this, the duo say the witch craft shop will provide retail space for local artists.
The store's workshops promise to produce high-quality products for its customers, as well as adhering to eco-friendly practices such as providing high-end, natural materials, and utilising local art and crafts to sell in-store.
Founders of Wheel of Fate and The Witchery, Gret McGilvray and Bruce Malley, commented on the store opening, stating: “We’re over the moon to be opening our sister store in such a fantastic city like Edinburgh. Since opening the US store in 2016, the requirement for this type of hands-on and authentic activity has grown.
“Initially, we opened The Witchery as a performance space and tarot reading room. We soon after invited local artists to join us, selling and displaying their work in-store.
"Over time the focus shifted to craft workshops, as we found that visitors to Salem were looking for meaningful, hands-on activities to do during their stay. Following this, the pandemic created a spike of interest in DIY and crafting, and so we started offering broom-making and bookbinding workshops almost exclusively, with takeaway kits available to make at home. As the business has grown, expanding to a second location made sense.”
Having chosen Edinburgh due to a similar target customer base and witch history to Salem, Director Tara McGilvray-Guard, who has lived in Edinburgh for the past 13 years, found there was a gap in the market for alternative, hands-on activities for visitors to Edinburgh and locals alike.
Speaking about the Edinburgh store opening, Tara McGilvray-Guard said: “We’re incredibly excited to open the doors of our new store to the public this summer! We’ve worked very hard on this project, and we can’t wait to provide memorable and authentic experiences to tourists visiting the city and the locals in the area.”
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