A crystal peace sign that glows around the clock beckons from a storefront window in downtown Bolinas. Open the door to Kaleidoscope, the 32-year-old women’s collective that today is operated by three locals who sell an assortment of clothes, cards, crystals and handmade goods from around the world.
“The store is like a kaleidoscope in nature,” said Tania Bedford, one of the original founders who gives tarot readings out of the shop under her alias, Madame Charlatania. She sat down with the Light this week with her two partners.
“Overwhelmed” is the experience she hoped customers have when they walk in, she said. The newest collaborator, Carol Ann Kruger, who joined two years ago after relocating from Tucson, Az., chimed in, “This is not the mall. This is about one-of-a-kind handmade, not made in China, goods.”
Micah, another original owner who said everyone knows her by first name only, added, “Sometimes it feels like we are the ambassadors of Bolinas: people from all over the world—France, Japan, Italy, New York—come in here and they ask us questions.”
In 1991, Kaleidoscope, then located near the gas station, began with 12 women. The store, open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with some days added during busier seasons, is today sandwiched between the Coast Café and the Bolinas Museum.
The women each sell their own goods at the store, and contribute to its upkeep in proportion to their sales. Ms. Kruger, who owned a clothing and jewelry shop in Tucson and took her goods on the road to Grateful Dead shows, still travels to a gem and mineral show in Arizona every year to collect more wares.
Micah, who used to travel the world to collect her goods but now relies on brokers, also knits hats and scarves. She said the cashmere sweaters are the hottest sellers right now. But the shop’s inventory is extensive: incense, magnets, gift cards, tarot cards, jewelry, Buddhist deities, prayer beads, crystal balls, all different kinds of textiles, political stickers, scarves, chimes, books and much more.
Micah said the shop has survived several recessions over the years, although they are at about a third of sales from their peak in 2001. All three women had theories about why their shop’s appeal might not be keeping up with current trends, including that people now look for purchases primarily online.
“There are all these creative, beautiful things, but maybe today the younger generation doesn’t want as much to take care of: they are more minimalist,” Ms. Kruger opined. “The hippie culture was just more brilliant and now people just want easy, to be less noticeable in yoga pants and what-not, while we were all into flash and funk. There are waves: It’s a little bit of a grimmer, darker, more anonymous world right now.”
She added, “We hope that people see the color of life.”