After wading through the crystals and knick knacks at the front of Craig’s Emporium, you’ll come across a life-size recreation of the alien from the 1996 Tim Burton film “Mars Attacks!” Sitting atop aUFO-style shelf filled with large geodes and positioned under a plethora of rainbow windsocks and mosaic lamps, the alien hardly stands out.
The store’s evident love of the eclectic gives it a similar feel to the cult-classic movie –– or really any cult-classic movie whose eccentricity has gained a devoted following. Yet, Craig’s Emporium’s cemented place within Oklahoma City’s general culture renders it closer to a simple classic. “Our rainbow is kind of undeniable; everyone knows the big rainbow store. All we have to say is ‘The one by Walgreens,’” said Craig, laughing.
Craig Coffin, the curious store’s founder, runs Craig’s Emporium alongside his husband, Joe Coffin. The store celebrated its 30th anniversary this past August.
For those who have yet to experience Craig’s Emporium, the store’s 8,000 square feet are split between three consecutive rooms. Their merchandise includes housemade incense and candles, a variety of crystals in all shapes and sizes, rare Tiffany lamps, Egyptian beads, Japanese tea sets, handmade Amish scented lightbulbs, and handmade jewelry. Their collection of over 800 different tarot card decks –– not including their over 400 different oracle card decks –– easily competes for the largest selection in the U.S.
“People will show up at the front, checking out, and I’ll go, ‘Where did you get that?’ [They’ll have] things either I didn’t know we had at all or I haven’t seen in 10 years,” laughed Joe. “And I’m going, ‘I thought I knew what was here.’”
When Craig first opened the store, though, he didn’t plan for it to be this big. In 1995, when he was working at what is now Picasso Cafe in the Paseo, Craig noticed that there was an opportunity for the vacant 500 sqft storefront next door to turn into something the neighborhood was missing: “The area had tons of art galleries and a couple restaurants, but it didn’t have a place where you could just buy something affordable every time you came down there.”
Thus, he opened Craig’s Emporium, the Paseo’s own tchotchke shop. “When I first opened, I could literally read off to someone what I had and how many,” said Craig. “It was a much different world.”
What began as frequent days-long stretches with no customers soon turned into increased popularity and a need to expand. He hopped across the street to a 2000 sqft location in the Paseo, before later settling in the current spot on 23rd street.
And, as expected with the four-times-bigger space and growing clientele, the inventory grew, too. Yet, even as more curios began to fill their new shelves, the owners remained focused on the unique inventory that defined them. “From the very beginning, we carried some crystals and some sterling jewelry with different angels and fairies on there. It’s been in our wheelhouse for a long time,” Coffin said.
The inspiration behind the store’s witchiness began long before even the Paseo storefront. As a teenager, Coffin would visit Starwind, an occult store formerly on Classen, and learn about spirituality outside of the context of a major religion.
“Growing up in Oklahoma, we didn’t have enough of that,” he said. “It’s exciting and fun to give people the opportunity to look at all the options, to practice what they want to practice and not feel like they’re being judged or that it’s taboo.”
As result, Craig’s Emporium becomes a spiritual space without pressuring patrons to know about or partake in the occult. And, naturally, it makes its wide array of different religious and spiritual items feel complimentary as opposed to contradictory.
As Easter approaches, the store will display rosaries and Catholic statues, while continuing to sell wares that take another approach to spirituality. “We are the largest seller of the Satanic Bible in the whole Southwest,” said Craig, laughing. “One of my reps says, ‘This is bizarre, every two months you order 50 copies. Where do they go?’ I think people are just interested, and it’s nice to facilitate people’s wandering mind.”
It is this atmosphere of curiosity and acceptance that has made Craig’s Emporium beloved in the OKC community.
On top of that, it has one of the most unique inventories in the metro area, if not beyond. The pair frequently travels around the U.S. searching for items to add to their collection. “We shop at thrift stores and yard sales and garage sales and estate sales, so it’s a big mix that you just don’t see in retail,” said Joe.
Their commercial audacity also helps define their diverse, and sometimes comical, selection. “My ideal situation is, if no store in town will dare carry it, and it’s not too offensive, we’ll carry it,” said Craig.
Even as Craig’s Emporium continues to grow, affordability remains a central tenant. “Since we’ve been doing this so long, a lot of our vendors give us better pricing,” said Craig, explaining how they maintain their low prices. The commitment to affordability inspired the creation of Unicorn Versus Pegasus next door. Craig’s new counterpart sells discounted books alongside heavily discounted merchandise from the other store.
Their next expansion will be Medusa’s Closet, a clothing store tucked behind Unicorn Versus Pegasus. Opening in the next few months, the store harks back to Kathy’s Closet, the clothing store Craig’s mother owned in the Paseo in the 1980s.
Craig’s Emporium is, in many ways, shaped by the people who have helped create and sustain them over these past 30 years. “We’ve met regular customers and their kids,” said Coffin. “And then their kids have kids. It’s really fun to see them; it’s like a new family.”
“And, there’s a batch of customers that are no longer with us. I wish I could [tell them], ‘Look at me now,’” Craig continued, beaming.
Craig and Joe Coffin have been often asked if they will franchise Craig’s Emporium. Their answer is a unilateral “No.” They also don’t have, or want, an online store. The community Craig’s has created is based right in-store. As Joe lovingly pointed out, “You need to come in to experience it.”
This article appears in Spring Break Splash.