Later this summer, a local family-owned company that designs and hand-makes crystal jewelry will open its first storefront in downtown St. Pete.

Over the past few months, Lily Rose Jewelry Co has been building out the retail space at 209 1st Street North, just two blocks west of the entrance to the St. Pete Pier. The new shop will sell a wide variety of crystals as well as a selection of jewelry, such as necklaces, bracelets, and 108-bead malas.

“It is our goal to create wearable jewelry with the highest quality all-natural crystals and metals at the most affordable price possible,” said Sarah Simoncini, who owns Lily Rose with her husband Joe Simoncini.

The 1,200-square-foot space was previously home to Karma Juice Bar & Eatery, which was forced to vacate when a fire broke out in 2019. The retail space has sat empty ever since.

Lily Rose sources crystals from 40 different countries. With modern technology, Sarah and Joe can video conference directly with mines where they can hand pick stones as if they were there in person.

“Many of the crystal shops in Tampa Bay use a wholesaler or middleman to source their crystals. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it means those shops all have similar crystals,” said Sarah. “With our connections to direct mines all over the world, we have very different offerings.”

Lily Rose Jewelry Co began in 2018 after Sarah and Joe decided to shutter their real estate marketing and management company.

After deciding to go in a new direction, Sarah asked Joe what he wanted to do in life if he could do anything.

“He looked at me and said, ‘I want to sell crystals and be a shaman,’” Sarah laughed. “I don’t know that you’d be successful selling crystals in any city in the country, but in St. Pete, it works!”

And so, the couple founded Lily Rose Jewelry Co in 2018 and named it after Sarah’s grandmother, Lily, and mother, Rose.

Initially, the plan was for Lily Rose to be online only. However, in 2019, Sarah and Joe decided to participate in local markets around Tampa Bay and the reception was remarkable.

“We eventually had three market booths going at one time,” said Sarah. “Business was great, and we were even picked to be a vendor at the new St. Pete Pier marketplace. But then COVID-19 hit, and all the markets shut down.”

Like many businesses during the pandemic, Lily Rose pivoted and built out an online store. In July 2020, four months after COVID shut down the world, the St. Pete Pier marketplace opened.

“The energy was incredible,” said Sarah. “That experience of having a small kiosk at the pier made us realize that having all our merchandise stationary was much easier than having to carry it around to the markets.”

Due to the size and weight of crystals, the kiosk at the pier has always primarily carried jewelry except for a small display of crystals. However, there has been a huge demand for crystals. And so, Sarah and Joe decided they needed a brick-and-mortar shop.

“We will have the more expensive items at the store,” said Sarah. “It’ll be a nice mix of affordability and a taste of the rarer crystals you can’t have at the pier.”

In addition to offering a wide selection of crystals and jewelry, education is a huge part of Lily Rose’s mission. A collection of free informational cards will be available that tell you everything about the crystals. The shop will also host events.

“We want people to visit the store and gain more knowledge about energy, crystals, meditation, manifestation, intuition,” said Sarah. “We will also have free crystal healing workshops where people can learn about crystal healing, the science behind it, and how modern science has proven it to be a real thing.”

For Sarah and Joe, who were both born and raised in the Sunshine City, St. Pete was the perfect place to launch Lily Rose’s first storefront.

“From a business standpoint, when we were doing markets all over Tampa Bay, we noticed the stark difference between markets in Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, and St. Pete,” said Sarah. “St. Pete just has the freer personality, the freer energy. I think people feel they can be themselves more in St. Pete—especially downtown. It was only ever St. Pete for us.”

Lily Rose Jewelry Co opens this summer at 209 1st Street North in downtown St. Pete. Be sure to follow them on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date and check out their website for more information.