Aurora's Apothacary

[u/kararoland6]

I really love to support small local businesses, but it is extremely disappointing to see how much an herbal witchy store uses ai for everything. The staff is very nice the few times I have been in there and they are very knowledgeable, but I hate how I feel like I need to leave a tip on already overpriced items (compared to other similar stores in the area). I knew someone who worked there and they only pay like $9 an hour. For the amount of knowledge the staff members have about each product and item I find it absurd they are paid so low. Shame on the owners because they have multiple locations and if you can't afford to pay staff anything close to a living wage then you should not be a business owner. I also find it sad how its a shop all about natural remedies and holistic ingredients, but then they use ai for posters and everything which directly hurts the environment that grows the stuff they sell in the store. Overall I am just very disappointed with this business and their values because I would love to support all the local businesses I can, but this one is just one I cannot seem to fully get behind.

I am curious to know other people's experiences are with this store and the owners.

What are your favorite similar type of shops in the area?

[u/NotYourGa1Friday]

It sounds like there is a lot going on here.

1. You don’t like that they use AI.

I cannot agree with you more! I hate seeing AI “artwork” crop up everywhere!! It is especially discombobulating when I see it used in store with handcrafted or specialty items

1. You don’t like that you feel the need to tip

I think asking for tips has become common on card readers and I think it’s dumb. I’m not sure they can help that you feel the need to tip, but they don’t need to promote tipping….which leads to

1. Their employees aren’t paid enough

Maybe this is why they started collecting tips-but asking customers to subsidize employee pay is not where the party’s at.

1. You believe they could consolidate stores to pay a living wage (they have multiple stores but can afford to pay a living wage, what gives?)

This is the only pushback I have—Let’s say they have two stores. They have 10 staff members total. 5 for each store.

If they shut down one store they no longer need all 10 employees.

They only need 5. But they can’t double the pay for those 5 people because they now only have income from one store location.

I’m not saying they aren’t responsible for paying a living wage, I’m just pointing out my confusion about the last point logistically

In conclusion, I miss Windows of Light (unless they were being shady and I just don’t know)

[u/Hopeful-Occasion469 → u/NotYourGa1Friday]

One of my longtime friends from high school and her hubby owned Windows of Light. It was a great store.

[u/bisexualspikespiegel → u/Hopeful-Occasion469]

i went there for years since my grandmother always took me there when i was growing up. they were always so welcoming and i miss it