Unique shop pleased to find home at popular hub for Northamptonshire businesses

A unique shop is pleased to have found its home at a popular hub for Northamptonshire businesses.

The Witches' Cavern, located in Building 15, Unit 7B at the Weedon Depot, is a gift shop selling wellness, spiritual and holistic products related to witchcraft.

The business is the brainchild of mother and son Joanne Blythe and Nathan Tarbuck, who began by starting their own brands before merging as one.

Joanne started ‘How Nature Made It’ during the pandemic as she started a new job a week before the virus took hold of the world and was soon laid off.

With a lot of time on her hands, she toyed with the idea of starting her own business and launched the natural and vegan-friendly brand as a result.

Around the same time, Nathan launched Est Oculus – an alternative brand that involved clothing and handmade gothic candles.

Last February, these two businesses merged and they launched another named Manifest That Craft.

While working on The Witches' Cavern to house all of these brands under one roof, they ran Manifest That Craft as a global supplier of handmade and painted candles.

Having lived in Weedon as a child and moved back as an adult with her sons, Joanne “always had an interest in the Depot as a child as it was a scary place”.

“As an adult, I can appreciate the architecture and the potential it has to offer,” Joanne added. “With the history and ghost stories, it was the perfect place to launch the shop.”

The Witches' Cavern provides a safe place for those who have an interest in holistic practices to visit, explore and discuss their ideas and experiences without the fear of judgement.

Their vision is to eventually create a wellness centre within their store at the Depot, offering meditation classes and spiritual evenings.

Both the ‘How Nature Made It’ and ‘Manifest That Craft’ brands are stocked within the shop, meaning natural and handmade bath bombs, soaps, wax melts and incense are available to purchase.

As well as this, they supply everything you need to make candles and offer candle making workshops.

The bestsellers of the unique hand painted candles are lavender and Egyptian amber scented.

The mother and son duo are excited to introduce a colour changing candle, with a strawberries and cream birthday cake scent, named ‘Scrumptious Cake’.

For the holistic side of things, you can also purchase sage, crystals, spell candles, tarot cards, crystal balls, jewellery and ornaments.

When asked what first sparked her and her son’s interest, Joanne said: “Who isn’t interested in magic?

“As children we get swept away by television series, but as adults we realise there is a whole world just waiting to be discovered.

“Witchcraft is many things – it is not just about casting spells, but understanding nature and how we can use it to help us in our everyday lives.

“I am still discovering new benefits everyday from essential oils and meditation, not just for physical ailments but also for our mental health.”

There is “always” the demand for The Witches' Cavern’s products as they house four brands under one roof – one is natural and vegan, one allows crafters to make their own candles, and the others are for those who want to shop something a bit different.

“We have had a very good response and people love our shop at The Depot,” said Joanne. “We’ve already built a network of regular customers, but like any business we need to increase our footfall to be able to sustain our shop.

“People have found it difficult to locate us as we’re quite tucked away.”

Joanne loves being located at The Depot as there is “so much potential” and she and Nathan “feel very at home”.

By working with other nearby traders, they all spread the word to customers about what else is available on the site.

Opening a physical store selling products they love has been the proudest moment for Joanne, and she described seeing it all come together as “amazing”.

“When a customer comes into our shop and we see how their face lights up, that has to be the winning one,” she added.

Joanne and Nathan have “big plans” for the coming months and years, both in store and online.

Having just launched their candle making workshops, their next focus is introducing monthly subscription boxes and more workshops based on the products they offer.

To keep up to date with The Witches' Cavern, visit their Facebook page here.