Seaton viral witches share story of Everchange Emporium

Working mums Kerri, and Harri, otherwise known as “Calm” and “Chaos” share their story with us about the “whirlwind” of running their business and how it feels to blow up online.

The humble beginnings of Everchange Emporium

Owner Kerri has had the shop for ten years and, despite being a practicing witch for 15 years, she only used the store originally to sell art supplies.

However, that all changed after she met Harri.

Enter Everchange Emporium – named so to account for the adaptable nature of Kerri’s store and how her inventory is ever-changing.

Kerri said: “My practice has always been in private, I never shared it, but there were little things like my Green Witch book and bits and pieces around the shop that showed that side of me.

“In August 2023 Harri walked in. She stopped and chatted to me about witchcraft asking; ‘Is this something you enjoy’? ‘Is this part of you?’ After that I knew we would be best friends for life.”

Kerri had always wanted to show the more magical side of her to the public but "would never have had the confidence to without Harri".

Fortunately, both their dreams aligned (along with their Pinterest boards) and so their witchy store was born.

Initially, they started small by converting a cupboard into a “Lunar Coven Cove” space to get a feel for how the public would react.

Original Lunar Coven Cove cupboard. (Image: Kerri and Harri) Kerri said: “The response was amazing. People were saying ‘you need to do more of this’, so it grew and now the whole space is magical."

Whilst the store will always have an arts focus, the arts and crafts side will now be surrounding things that can be incorporated into a witches' practice instead, including grimoire making.

Initially, some people in the Seaton community were unsure what to think, but over time Kerri and Harri managed to win them over.

Kerri said: “We did get a few people initially come in who were surprised. People came into the store and saw the colour black and instantly thought negatively.

“Whilst there were a few comments made, we were just honest, saying how all we want to do is to bring positivity to our community.

“The world is so chaotic, and I think sometimes we all forget the real basics of going back to nature and spending time with each other."

Kerri and Harri also experienced a rocky start, after receiving a series of strange packages.

“We started getting strange pebbles left outside. They had bible verses on them, and at first, I didn’t say anything, I just took them back to the beach. But then when it was happening four times a day, we decided to put a Facebook post up.

“The support we received was incredible, even the local Vicar apologised. Everyone couldn’t believe someone was doing that. Since then we have only heard positives.”

How Kerri and Harri became 'the viral witches of Lunar Coven Cove'

To be able to grow, Kerri and Harri realised early on that they could not only rely on the tourism element, but they also needed to be able to reach online communities too.

Neither of them ever expected to go viral with their initial target being to reach 10k followers on TikTok which they felt for a small business in Seaton would be unheard of.

Now, their account @lunarcovencove has almost 15k followers and is still growing.

@lunarcovencove Running a witch shop in a small town has its ups and downs….we like to focus on the ups ✨ #witchy #witchshop #ukwitchshop #witchlife #witchshopuk #witchtok #witchaesthetic ♬ original sound - Silly

Their online name was born from the pillars of their identities – their connection to the moon through their practice, the goal of eventually forming a coven-community and the fact their business started in a cupboard.

Kerri said: “As soon as we hit TikTok that was where our community was, and it massively exploded. It has enabled us to grow at such a rapid speed."

Harri added: “Yeah, TikTok has gone crazy. It has been slightly terrifying. Quite a lot of people who have come to see us have said ‘OMG it’s like meeting celebrities.”

Due to their quick rise to fame they have had people travel to visit Seaton from all over the UK (and even globally), with fans and members of their Patreon coven commenting daily about their desire to visit – with some even taking it so far as to follow Harri home.

Kerri said: “We started thinking where is the limit?  Where could we go with this? Could we really put Seaton on the map?

“I think so many people forget Seaton, but now we have people coming here saying that Seaton is amazing, and that it is its own little magical space.”

(Image: Kerri and Harri) Since going viral, running their store has become "much more of a challenge", with Harri and Kerri doing it all from creating the products to shipping them – finding themselves dedicating 3 hours a day after their TikTok lives to packaging products.

The future of Everchange Emporium

Everchange Emporium is currently right in the middle of receiving planning permission and should find out by the end of the month if the next phase of the business can go ahead as planned.

Kerri said: “That is what we are so excited for, because we can have a big open space where we can run community events and have coven meets. We would also like to have a tea bar where visitors can blend their own herbal teas.

“We also want to introduce a treatment room where people can come in and do Reiki healing, crystal healing and card readings. We are so excited to turn our Pinterest boards into a reality.”

Harri added: “One thing I am dead set on is a bookcase with second-hand witch books.”

Through the extension they would also be able to hire more people to support them – offering more jobs to their community and allowing Kerri and Harri to focus more on running workshops, their spell work and making their products.

Kerri is a self-proclaimed green witch - qualified in aromatherapy, with a master’s degree in philosophy - so she focuses on the mind and health side of the store and handmakes all the oil blends they sell.

Harri meanwhile is a self-proclaimed chaos witch whose practice is very much rooted in tarot – handling all the in-store readings, making the macrame art displayed and the spell jars.

When thinking about the future of their business and their goals for the year ahead, Kerri said: “Retreats is a goal for next year. We keep getting requests from our coven. There are lots of great places to stay locally, so, we want to eventually host something where people can stay over and come into our store for workshops.”

Kerri finished the interview by saying: “If we can do it, anyone can. It just takes determination, hard work and passion for what you do.

“We love when a customer comes in and they are worried or concerned about something and then they say how much better they feel from just coming into our space and chatting with us.

“It is the small difference we are making in people’s lives that is the best bit.”