Samples of items available in the Bristol Boo-tique
Call them spooky, creepy, unusual or downright strange: the Bristol Boo-tique offers a variety of crafts and services that fit perfectly into the Halloween season —and year-round.
Kristi Marion founded the store in 2023. In 2021, she was making weird sublimation crafts and attempting to do vendor shows under the name, The Kreepy Qween. A sublimation craft is a special printing method where heat turns solid ink into a gas, so it can permanently bond with polyester or polymer-coated materials.
A lot of shows would not accept her items because they were different, and she did not do well at the ones that did accept her. After about six months, she decided to do her own shows and had found enough kindred spirits to have a show of 13 vendors at Warehouse 817, Bristol, Virginia. After a few shows, they outgrew the space and moved above Southern Craft, Bristol, Virginia. Marion was seeking a brick-and-mortar space but had not found the right space.
In August 2023, Teresa and David Tibol who owned the historic Bristol Virginia Post Office reached out and that October, Marion opened in their foyer and postmaster rooms. Originally, she was going to be there for three months but extended her stay for another three. By that point, they’d outgrown that space.
They opened in their current space on State Street in April 2024. The store is now owned by Marion and Rebekah Napier and Alesia Wood (who started as vendors). Sleighter Davis, tarot reader, is the shop manager.
The Bristol Boo-tique is home to 45 crafters. They offer wet specimens (organisms or biological tissue preserved and displayed in a fluid-filled container), taxidermy, bone/bug art, crochet, crystals, hats, mystery bags, prints, books, trinkets, metaphysical supplies, locally crafted tea blends, shirts, wire wrap, retro physical media, true crime and more.
They offer an array of metaphysical services, such as tarot, Reiki, mediumship and osteomancy (an ancient form of divination that uses bones to tell the future, connect with ancestors or answer questions).
They offer DIYs on taxidermy, oddity art,witchcraft and kid-friendly events, like trinket trading and slime making. They offer a weekly learning tarot class,Mystic Fundamentals. They also have Tea & Tarot monthly, where participants get hand-blended tea, a tea leaf and tarot reading. They also hold miscellaneous crafting classes and pagan holiday celebrations.
The store offers two clubs: true crime that meets bi-weekly, and a book club that meets monthly.
Another charming aspect of the store is Lady Morticia. Lady Morticia is a 16-year-old cat who is on the store’s logo and is cherished by staff and customers. Before coming to live at the store, she was a resident at the Bridge Home No Kill Shelter and had been there for 2.5 years. Because of her FIV diagnosis, no one would adopt her. When Bridge Home did a kitten café at the store, they brought Lady Morticia with them. The owners fell in love with her and adopted her.
“We have established ourselves as a place where all are welcome, but we have found our community among fellow weirdos and misfits. We pride ourselves on standing apart from any other shop in the Tri-Cities area, by offering unique and original wares. We are firm on our anti-AI stance and support artists and crafters in every way we can.
“We are appreciative to our longtime and new customers who have made our store a staple among the State Street community, and we will be celebrating three years open in October, we have already renewed our lease and are planning to be around for a long time,” Marion says.
For more information, visit www.thebristolbootique.com. The store is located at 503 State Street, Bristol, Virginia.
