What began as a childhood fascination with crystals and fossils has flourished into a rapidly-expanding business, which has enjoyed a bright start to the launch of its newest shop in the centre of Sudbury.

The Angel Shop lauded the “overwhelmingly positive” response to the launch of its third branch in North Street Parade at the end of October, building on the success of its first two outlets in Essex.

Describing itself as a holistic shop, the business specialises in crystals ethically sourced from around the world, which has seen it become a supplier for Lime Pictures, the TV production company behind Hollyoaks and The Only Way is Essex.

Director Kenny Long, who previously spent 10 years in the Metropolitan Police and worked at major events around the UK, including a Nato summit, revealed that the origins of the business were rooted in his and his siblings’ childhood hobbies.

“My sister has loved crystals since a young age, and I have always loved fossils,” he told SuffolkNews. “My brother used to take me fossil hunting, and we once found a shark tooth, so that really sparked my interest.

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“We opened our first shop in Braintree about seven years ago and more recently opened another in Witham, but we had so many customers travelling from Sudbury to our shops that we decided to open one here, too. We’ve had such an overwhelmingly positive response.

“We travel to big trade shows and we source crystals from Madagascar, Brazil – all over the world, really. My partner and I go direct to the owners to make sure the crystals are ethically sourced.”

In addition to crystals and fossils, The Angel Shop sells an array of unique giftware, including spiritual figurines, tarot cards, runes, pendulums, healing pipes, singing bowls and incense burners.

It also offers holistic therapies, such as head and facial massage, reflexology and reiki healing.

Mr Long said he was delighted by the early reaction to the Sudbury shop, explaining that a lot of customers had travelled in from well outside the town.

“The response has been amazing,” he added. “We’ve had so many people coming in, because we’ve found that a lot of people don’t like to buy crystals and fossils online – they like to see them in person.

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“People are saying that it’s so refreshing to have a new shop open that’s so unlike anything else in the area.

“Other businesses have dropped in and said it’s nice to bring customers in from further afield who don’t normally come to Sudbury, because not only do they visit our shop, but they go on to other shops as well.

“It’s a bit like a museum here. Some people come in and like to chat with us for hours, because they have never seen a mammoth’s tooth or a quartz crystal in person before. Even if they don’t end up buying anything, they like to have pictures taken with them.”

To find out more about The Angel Shop and its range of wares, go online to www.theangelshop.co.uk.