Candle, skin-care shop Bohemian Rêves set to expand
/Bohemian Reves is currently located at 1620 Central Avenue. In the coming months, the shop will triple in size as it expands into two neighboring storefronts at 1622 and 1624 Central Avenue
Bohemian Rêves, a St. Pete native company selling everything from their handcrafted skincare and candle line to plants, jewels, and all things evoking desert senses, is expanding into two vacant spaces next to its current location at 1620 Central Avenue. The business, which was founded in 2016 by Amelia Naomi Dean will now occupy 1622 and 1624 Central Avenue, as well, which had been home to an acupuncture clinic.
Dean has big plans for the extra retail space. Among them to include her distinctive take on a potential coffee bar, as well as room to allow her to stock products from brands that don’t have a large presence in St. Pete, Dean says, adding that she would also like to create a men’s section.
“There are so many brands on the west coast that aren’t big here yet,” she says, “but there’s a space for them. We could curate a whole section.”
Owner of Bohemian Reves, Amelia Naomi Dean
She cites brands including Spell & The Gypsy Collective, Tularosa, and Boys Lie as a good fit with Bohemian Rêves’ overall vibe, among the contenders. Dean likes to give her products — which run the gamut from apothecary candles to botanical perfumes, bars of soap, face washes, lotions, and all-natural body oils — clever, cheeky names, such as Salty Bitch Bye, Send Nudes XO, Don’t Make It Weird, Dad Stash, and Fuck Boy.
One of the first candles she created and marketed for sale was called Reggae Boy, inspired by a now ex she had dated at the time. “He had just gotten so awful,” Dean says. During a tiff while at her pop-up store with said ex, she announced she would be discontinuing the candle mid conversation. “Immediately after I was venting to one of the girls I shared the pop-up space with, the name Fuck Boy was aptly thrown out. We both looked up, exchanged glances, and that was that.”
Dean changed the name of the Reggae Boy candle to Fuck Boy, which has become one of Bohemian Rêves’ best-selling products. The name has since been trademarked and its scent turned into a botanical perfume with more F Boy products on the horizon.
Summer Blues, a rose water-infused essential oil bug spray, and Smolder Body Oil infused with antioxidant rich organic calendula officinalis
“Now no one else in the U.S. can make a candled called ‘Fuck Boy,’” Dean says. “We have a whole ‘B O Y by Bohem’ candle line coming out. We’ve been rapid-fire spitting out these candle names and products, and they’re relatable.”
She adds, laughing, “The Fuck Boy Candle smells just like the Abercrombie store you’d walk by in the mall.”
Bohemian Rêves is a St. Pete success story. In true boss babe fashion, Dean bootstrapped the company’s early days by selling the engagement ring given to her by her ex-fiance. The injection of capital paid off and her products have exploded in popularity over the years.
A variety of products from Bohemian Reves, a local St. pete company with a storefront at 1620 Central Avenue
In fact, the retail expansion isn’t the only new space for Bohemian Rêves. In 2021, Dean leased a 3,000 square foot warehouse in the Warehouse Arts District to handle production. The manufacturing atelier is filled to the brim with boxes of product and industrial-sized machines used for perfume mixing, candle filling, labeling, and shipping.
Dean says Bohemian Rêves gained a lot of momentum about three years ago when she started listing her products on wholesale platforms for independent brands. Up until then, she’d been doing business exclusively at festivals and pop-up markets both locally and as far afield as Chicago, Miami, and Nashville.
“That’s been a game-changer,” she says of the decision to use wholesaling platforms. “If you have a small business, you can put your items out there and other business, both big and small, can buy it. It’s a great tool whether you’re selling or browsing for new goods for your shop.”
Bohemian Reves’ Chill Pill candle with eucalyptus, patchouli, and fir needle
In the early days of Bohemian Rêves, Dean took a trial-and-error approach to creating scents. “I’m so impatient. I would gather everything I had and just go H.A.M,” she says. “After an hour, you can’t really smell anything. These days, I’m more familiar with blending and the different smells and styles that I like. Time has helped me in choosing and narrowing things down more confidently and then I go do some research.”
Dean hopes to have the expanded retail space open by the summer.
Oh and that engagement ring that Dean sold to fund the early days of Bohemian Rêves? With the meaning and intention behind the collaborative diamond ring forever changed, she recently called the store she sold it to and learned it was still there, as if patiently waiting. Needless to say, she's buying it back.
Follow Bohemian Rêves on Instagram for more updates about its expansion.
