Here in the corner of the second floor of the Broadway Alley building is another entry on the shortlist of good vibes hotspots in Capitol Hill.
Before you go to Sankofa Boutique, take the time to look up a little bit about its story in local news articles. It is a rare feel-good narrative about a small independent business started, owned, and operated by a Black woman as a labor of love for both her own interests and the community around her.
Sankofa Boutique features one of the best selections of crystals and other semiprecious gemstones in the Seattle area. All are painstakingly labeled with names and information, and the shopkeeper can often offer helpful thoughts on each. Prices are very fair value for what you get, especially in such an expensive neighborhood.
The selection of lovely jewelry, interesting trinkets, candles, incense, hand-selected basic witchcraft/magic kits, and other New Age miscellanea is also outstanding. Books and Tarot/oracle decks are not Sankofa's niche (unsurprisingly considering how many other places in the area cover it instead), but the small selection there still offers some good options.
This store also specializes in African imports (hence the name "Sankofa," often used for businesses and organizations built around African heritage, from a word in the Ghanaian Twi language about returning to the past to retrieve ancestral wisdom), and I recently purchased a beautiful Kenyan Maasai beaded leather cuff here. Not only is it physically comfortable, but to my spiritual senses it is a solid source of good energy.
Cherika, the proprietor, has clearly painstakingly cultivated an atmosphere of cozy serenity and emotional warmth tucked away here in this little shop. She is also unfailingly kind and generous of spirit with patrons; she treats newcomers and passersby cordially and maintains great relationships with regular customers and community figures.
Sankofa Boutique is an excellent choice for spending a little time browsing the small wonders of a cozy and kind corner of Capitol Hill, especially if you want to lighten your coinpurse in exchange for some exciting new treasures. read more