Featured Chik: Alexandria Roy

Just in time for spooky season, we'd love for you to meet Alexandria Roy of COVEN - a Dark Boutique in Salem, MA. While we love COVEN (and Salem) all year-round, it is especially fun in October!

​Tell us a bit about your company! What do you do? What is your mission?
COVEN is best described as a dark boutique experience. Our range goes from stunning dresses and blouses, to printed shirts and hoodies. We have a vast selection of bags and other accessories like belts, corsets, modern witch hats and jewelry. As a small business we like to support others as well, most of our gift items are either locally hand made, or from other small batch local businesses like ourselves. Coffee, Tea, sterling silver jewelry, art prints and candles, all hand made! This exemplifies part of our mission, which is to grow while helping others and to establish great relationships along the way. It is also very important for us to be a place for everyone, we proudly offer inclusive sizing. We are also a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.

How did you get started with your business? What made you decide to join this industry?
I was working at a salon for over 12 years and knew I needed a major change in my life. After being laid off because of the pandemic, my fiancé and I would take weekly (sometimes daily) trips to Salem just to get out of the house. It truly felt like we were being drawn there. One day, while we were driving, I saw the "For Lease" sign on my dream business location. After months and months of trying to connect with someone to rent the spot, it finally happened. I left my job and never looked back. My fiancé and I had 4 weeks to turn the store into something before opening on October 1st. Initially, the front of the space was supposed to be retail and the back of the space was going to be my studio for hair, makeup, and spray tanning. After our first October, we quickly realized that the studio was not something I actually wanted and that we would occupy the back with more retail space. We have grown from a "beauty company" to a boutique that encompasses beauty and all things spooky and classy.

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What does it mean to you to be a small business owner on the North Shore? 
I feel grateful and excited to be a business owner in such a beautiful and unique city. The North Shore is one of the most stunning areas in the country and I'm humbled knowing that my business is a part of this community.

What is your favorite part of being a business owner?
My absolute favorite part about being a business owner is being able to choose the people I work with, the brands we bring in, the aesthetics and environment. Having creative control over my business has opened my eyes to a different world. Every time I see a customer happy to be in my store, enjoying the experience and the unique products, it truly makes my whole day and inspires me to keep growing and evolving the business.

When you were growing up, what is your ultimate dream job? If it's this, how does it feel to have met your dream?! If it was something different, how did your dream change over time? 
When I was growing up, I had two dream jobs. The first was to be a fashion designer and have my own clothing and accessory line. The second was to be a cosmetologist. I ended up going to college for Business, graduated from Salem State, and then years later went to Cosmetology school. Being a stylist and a makeup artist wasn't enough for me and that's what inspired me to create the best of both worlds in my business. I now have my dream business which is all about fashion and beauty with the edgy, spooky twist I've always loved. I'm eternally grateful for the support and love from my family, friends, customers, and the universe.

Every business owner faces challenges. How are you empowered to overcome yours? 
On our worst day, I know there are so many people who would trade places with us in a second. We stay mindful of the severity of our problems comparatively with others and it makes us overcome whatever we're dealing with. There are people with bigger problems, complaining less. We keep things in perspective.

Tell us (in one word) how you would describe your bosschik business! 
Unique

Anything else we should know about you, your business, or just a fun fact?!
Fun fact about my business - I came up with the name COVEN three years prior to opening it. I didn't know exactly what my business would be, but I knew the name would be COVEN. We were inspired by American Horror Story. Another fun fact - We have over 150 flameless candles in the store, which equates to over 300 AA batteries!

Where you can find her:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok

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