When Oneonta native Jeffrey Gorens needed a career change, the path was clear.
He and his wife, Michalina Gorens, launched Zen’d, a crystal shop in Oneonta’s Southside Mall in early September.
“Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of one day running a business, and I have always had a passion for rocks and minerals,” he said. “I always imagined owning a restaurant or burger joint one day, and I used to work in IT and computers. In fact, I never imagined having a crystal shop, but now I have something else to do. I can’t imagine having one.”
“Originally I was thinking about a cake or a cafe, and I was making my own cakes for a while,” Michalina Gorens said.
The couple said the store, which stocks about 10,000 crystals, grew out of their collection.
“It grew out of necessity from our passion for collecting,” Jeffrey said. “We’ve always collected, but in the past year we’ve collected quite a bit. We started with the idea of starting an event, but the collection got really out of hand and we ended up moving to our house and parents’ house. When the store was full, we decided that we needed a store and wanted to do something together. this. ‘”
He said he and Michalina Gorens were shopping at a mall in April when one “good spot” was empty. “I signed the contract a week later,” he said.
In the previous months, the Gorens said, they had done all the renovations to the space themselves, with the help of their friend Madison Fuller Rosario, who helped organize and sort the roughly 10,000 crystals. That’s what it means. The Gorenses’ daughters, Anilena and Lilina, also work at the store.
Jeffrey Gorens, who until recently served as his parents’ primary caregiver for years, said opening the store was “an outlet and it was therapeutic.”
The Gorens said the breadth of their inventory means they “offer a little bit of everything.”
“There’s something for everyone. If you don’t have it, you can get it if you ask for it,” Michalina Gorens said. “We offer Magic Hour Tea, each hand-selected (by our creators) and have gem-themed (varieties). We offer a different tea sample every day.
“We try to offer a little bit of what we like from each Crystal store,” Jeffrey says. “We have carvings, rare finds, raw minerals and all kinds of shapes and forms.”
The Gorens said their customer base is broad.
“It’s all over the place,” Jeffrey Gorens said. “[Crystal]is something that I personally love and I didn’t think many other people would think the same way, but we were just starting to get to know people and especially if they were our It seems like we’re bringing people together because we know something. And a lot of people just happened to come across us.”
He said people “come in, fall in love with it and don’t want to leave.” “Meditation music” is always playing in the store, and the aim is to have a calming effect.
He also said things are going well. “(The mall) has more anchor stores and it’s really busy. Especially on weekends, it’s really congested,” he said.
“Everyone loves the energy in our store,” Michalina Gorens agreed.
The Gorens said they hope to expand their offerings.
“There’s something different about shopping at a crystal store, picking up a crystal, and going to something you’re drawn to,” Michalina Gorens says. “I’ve always loved the healing aspects of crystals, so I’m learning more about their properties and efficacy, as well as the healing aspects of tea. Tea definitely works, and many of my customers are surprised by its effects. ”
“We want to touch more on the healing side and tarot readings,” Jeffrey Gorens said. “We are currently short on space and are looking for a place that can provide a private area. And since I love organizing giveaways and weekly prizes, and I’m just getting tired of technology, I’m looking forward to shopping online. I would like to distance myself from this and focus on building a physical store.”
Zen’d is open Sunday through Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed on Wednesdays.
For more information, visit Zen’d on Facebook.
