When four best friends come together over lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, magic happens.
For a while, Elyssa Gerber, Cassandra Barr, Lydia Piñon and Torrie Dueñas had dabbled with the idea of opening a space together, built on the idea that the community was in need of a witchy queer-friendly space.
It was a faraway dream of theirs, certainly not one they really sat down to think about — until that two-hour conversation at Sweet Tomatoes when a storefront next to Dueñas’ shop Monsoon Mystics opened up.
“We already knew what the space looked like before we even got the keys, so we could visualize something we could make our own,” Dueñas says. “It was a matter of group chats and voting and color swatches and crying and laughing and pizza runs.”
The four have created Celestia Collective, a witchy coffee shop meets community space at 657 W. St. Marys Road. It’s where you can grab a coffee, shop metaphysical crafts, get a tattoo, learn a new craft or sit down with earphones and work on your laptop. There’s also a no-strings-attached pantry for anyone who needs food, toiletries or small clothing items.
Celestia Collective is now open and in its soft opening phase. A grand opening is set for Friday, Sept. 13. While details are still being ironed out, visitors will be able to enjoy a weekend-long celebration of festivities.
Torrie Dueñas, Cassandra Barr, Lydia Piñon and Elyssa Gerber, the owners of Celestia Collective, pose for a photo inside of the space.
All four of the friends behind Celestia Collective have long been interested in the world of magic, witches and metaphysics. Barr has been practicing witchcraft since she was a preteen; Gerber has called themself a witch since they were 8 years old. While they each describe Celestia Collective as witchy and queer, it’s OK if you aren’t.
“Ultimately, it’s a third space for the community,” says Piñon, who also creates wood-burned crafts under the name Luna Craft. “I feel as though we are a weird Venn diagram of witchy and queer, and we want to make sure there’s a safe place for people to come that meet those identities and make sure they have a place to go if they don’t know where to meet their people, if they want a cup of coffee, if they want to learn something new — or be a part of the community and just exist.”
“It’s important to us because we’ve been looking for our people,” says Gerber, the needle-crafts artist behind The Stitching Hour. “I know personally I’ve lived in Tucson my whole life and I never quite felt like I found my people, moving through different phases of friends and jobs and school, and I never found them until now and I want other people to be able to meet their best friends here.”
The Stitching Hour’s Elyssa Gerber, who is also part owner of Celestia Collective, sells handmade crafts inside the new space.
Celestia Collective is next door to Monsoon Mystics, a store that Dueñas opened last year as an extension of her handcrafted brand Desert Mystic Goods. Monsoon Mystics houses metaphysical items from small businesses, in addition to Dueñas’ own intention candles and skin-care products.
“The community we’ve built as the four of us, what we set out with trying to make (at Celestia Collective) with Monsoon Mystics — it’s not a branch on the tree. It’s a tree next to the tree and the branches are intertwined,” Dueñas says. “It’s like a chaparral because the roots are all connected.”
The hangout space at Celestia Collective is connected by a hollowed-out door (which Dueñas lovingly calls the portal) to the coffee area. It’s where Barr’s business Colibri & Renard Coffee will serve up cold brew, hot coffee and espresso. Colibri and Renard Coffee roasts all their own coffee and hopes to also create house-made syrups.
“Anything we can make in-house, we want to make in-house — because we’re witches and we make potions,” Barr says.
Celestia Collective is part coffee shop, thanks to co-owner Cassandra Barr, who runs Colibri and Renard Coffee.
Tattoo artist Able Stone has a space in the loft of Celestia Collective and several shelves will soon be packed with creations that you can purchase from artists — whether they’re big-name makers in the community or someone who just landed their first table at a local market. Collaboration over competition is the way of thinking.
While you can buy a cup of coffee or pick up a craft, the four owners hope to create a space that’s more than a financial transaction for its customers — a space where you’re welcome to sit on the couch and simply be.
Lydia Piñon, Elyssa Gerber, Cassandra Barr, Torrie Dueñas and Able Stone pose for a photo along the staircase inside Celestia Collective.
The friends plan to host a slew of events, including monthly karaoke, game nights and craft workshops. They’ve even flirted with the idea of silent discos. But really, they’re prepared to adapt to whatever the community needs.
“I think the thing is, we’re trying to be as diverse as our community,” Piñon says. “If the community needs a space to do a silent disco, if the community needs a space for a Sunday brunch for the homeless, if the community needs a space for a small wedding because they can’t afford to do one somewhere else, a blanket drive — whatever it is that’s necessary that makes people feel safe.”
People hang out inside Celestia Collective during the soft opening on Aug. 15.
Creating and maintaining a safe space for the community is a priority for all four friends, so much so that they’ve drafted a code of conduct to ensure respect, accountability and inclusivity among everyone who visits.
“The way that you feel when you go home — and I know everyone has different experiences — but you’re like, I had dinner with my parents and it was so nice and you feel very held and very safe,” Gerber says. “I want to hold our community that way and I want people to feel like they have gone home to visit — that kind of good and comfortable, I belong here sort of vibe, where they know they can always come back and they’re looking forward to the next reason they ever have to be here which might be coffee the next morning or one of our workshops.”
“It’s the yearning to return because they belong and they feel welcome, not just because we’re here because we’re here to take their money — that’s what we’re trying to get away from,” Dueñas says. “It’s not just a store that we’re trying to cram people into, it’s a space that’s open for the community.”
“It’s a living, breathing place and we’re a living, breathing collective,” Dueñas says.
Celestia Collective is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, with extended hours for events. Hours are subject to change. Keep up with upcoming events on Celestia Collective's website and Instagram.
Among other projects and gathering spaces, Celestia Collective has a tattoo studio.
