Nebraska in the common zeitgeist is regarded as the corn state. We’re supposed to like football and farming, and that’s about it. The lack of interesting destinations and distinctive culture beside our boring, Midwestern identity occasionally makes it difficult to find activities in even the city of Lincoln, which, especially in the Eastern part of town, struggles with few eye-catching hang-out spots. However, our city is in fact home to many special places brimming with individuality, some of which being the novelty shops like Euphoria, Eye of the World Imports, and Bodhi Imports.
These stores play a niche role in the community, as the title of gift shop doesn’t fully sum up their appeal and customer base. Euphoria and Bodhi Imports use the term “metaphysical supply store” to describe themselves. The businesses carry spiritual wares, from tarot decks to crystals to sage. Clothing, accessories, and home goods and decor of varying levels of eccentricity can also be purchased. These shops mark themselves as distinctively maximalist and whimsigothic, going against the grain in a way that has successfully drawn a similarly niche crowd from all over Lincoln.
Euphoria, located right off of O street, carries arguably the widest variety of goods, and tends to be the most well-known amongst East students. With a quaint jingle when entering and dozens of dreamcatchers and wind chimes hanging overhead, Euphoria succeeds in giving every new visitor a strong first impression.
The shop has a massive selection of rocks and gems, along with products made with crystals such as carvings and decorative trees. It also boasts a large enough fashion supply to kickstart any aspiring bohemian’s wardrobe. I have personally found some of my favorite accessories and badges at Euphoria.
A vital part of these novelty shops is their spiritual aspect. “Bad karma will fall upon those who steal,” read a hand-written sign that I encountered while visiting these shops. Several years ago when I purchased a piece of amethyst, the employee at Euphoria offered to cleanse it for me, explaining that the sweet-smelling spritz they doused my stone in would allow its properties to work in their most pure form. The so-called witchy style of their product base goes beyond aesthetic and reaches into the lifestyle of many of their customers, the culture of whom reflects an introspective and magical outlook on life, using many of the “metaphysical supplies” offered by these stores to better tune their prospects and minds.
Bodhi Imports displays a shrine centering a Buddha figure with many adornments meant to bring good luck and peace to its curators and visitors. Bodhi is a somewhat smaller shop than Euphoria, with a similar selection of wares. Located closer to downtown Lincoln, it’s situated between several businesses that allows for a walkable errand run.
In terms of products, Bodhi stood out by taking pride in its selling of local artists’ stock. Jewelry, personal care, clothing, and home goods from brands run out of Lincoln are proudly displayed and make up a large portion of the store’s items. Bodhi Imports also occasionally runs events to build community, and works with local individuals to allow them to perform spiritual or artistic services through the shop as well. On social media, Bodhi’s owner, Beatrix Mather, openly shares pride in running the store to prioritise Lincoln’s small businesses and people.
Eye of the World Imports works on a slightly different business model: besides just local sellers, products from around the world (imports, if you will) are their major point of pride, sourcing their items ethically from cottage businesses and global female-led brands in other countries, such as Indonesia and Mexico. Because of this, the experience of exploring Eye of the World felt like a lot more of an adventure due to the sheer variety of items and themes.
This store is run out of a repurposed house on 48th Street, utilising its space as much as possible, from the yard outside to the second floor. For a novelty store, this concept has several advantages, because of how the layout allows for more exploration, and how the home allows visitors to more accurately imagine potential buys in their real interior design. The unfortunate downside, however, is that finding parking here can be difficult. The struggle is well worth it, though.
Personally, as somebody who was introduced to this variety of store by my more alternative family members, as I was in the process of developing my own alternative style, having these businesses in my city that can otherwise feel very boring means a lot to me. It reflects that Lincoln has a bustling community of people who are interested in the unorthodox, and these shops provide the valuable resource of not only decor and fashion that suit different aesthetics, but also the opportunity to encounter people more my speed, or who can teach about perspectives to expand my knowledge of the unordinary. Supporting businesses such as these allows us to propagate a more exciting Lincoln.
