Crystal shop in Leighton Buzzard celebrates 20 years in business

Angela Cooper, 60, had worked at Nationwide for 16 years before making the leap to follow her passion and open her own shop.

Now, 20 years later, Angelicas, located on Ryland Mews, off Lake Street, is one of only a handful of town centre businesses to have stood the test of time.

Specialising in crystals and rocks, Angelicas also offers a range of therapies including Reiki, tarot and Swedish massage.

Angela says she was given a spiritual push by ‘upstairs’ to make the career change.

She explained: “A friend took me for a facial for my birthday and I said ‘I want to do this but I whave a full time job’. They said ‘we do part time courses’. For the next two and a half years I’d get messages in my dreams pushing me to do it.

“On my first day my best friend was with me and said ‘you’ve given up a full time job but you din’t have a care in the world’. I said I wouldn’t be pushed that hard to do something if I wasn’t meant to do it.

“When I was first here I didn’t even have signs up, and people came from all over. A lot of people come back because I go out of my way to get things for them. People have become friends.”

She added: “I was very lucky to find myself in a job that didn’t feel like work anymore. Angelica’s was born out of a passion for kindness and self healing and I’m proud to have bought that to the town for 20 years.”

Leighton Buzzard mayor, David Bligh visited the shop to help celebrate the milestone.

He said: “Angelicas is one of our hidden gem businesses in the town centre and it’s fantastic to see it still here after 20 years. It’s a real treasure trove and Angela’s knowledge of crystals, reiki and healing was truly insightful.”

And there’s a birthday treat for all shoppers from June 12 to 14 – as customers can enjoy 20% off all stock, excluding tarot, oracle, books and large geodes. Items already on sale won’t be futher discounted.

Angela says there have been ‘good years and horrific years’ during her time in the town.

She said: “Lockdown was very difficult, but the year after it kids were getting into crystals because of TikTok and were queuing around the block. It’s like I got back everything I had missed.”

But she added: “This year has been the worst year we’ve had. Some days we don’t get any customers. People don’t realise how much the smaller businesses are struggling.

“A lot of us give you personal service and will really go out of our way to help you. We’re all saying ‘use it or lose it’ and that’s very true. Take a look around your town because there’s more than you realise.”

As well as running the shop, Angela also runs a community drop in event with a number of other local practitioners once a month where anyone can drop by for a taster Reiki session or tarot reading.

The sessions take place once a month at The Friends Meeting House, North St and are available for a donation, where participants are invited to pay what they can afford.

Angela continues: “We collectively wanted to make these services accessible to our whole community, and working together we are able to offer these taster sessions for free. We’ve seen so many people since we started running them 17 years ago and providing anything to support people when so many are struggling at the moment is really important to us.”

You can visit Angelicas on Instagram or Facebook to find out more.