Marie Rodriguez smiles at the neat rows of brightly colored bath washes, candles, bowls and statues lining the walls of her store, Botanica Okalanque, at 150 Wakelee Ave.
She is confident in new beginnings and determined to put the past behind her — especially the memory of the December fire that badly damaged her previous store at 94 Main St.
“It was a traumatic and shocking experience,” Rodriguez said. “ I thought, ‘Oh God, I lost everything.’”
Rodriguez owns Botanica Okalanque with her husband, Jose Rodriguez, an Ansonia volunteer firefighter. It’s a shop that sells supplies for the practice of Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean religion that blends African beliefs with Roman Catholicism.
The fire occurred when the store was closed.
Rodriguez learned about the blaze as it was happening, after a customer had called her telling her. She said she drove quickly to the store and was in shock when she arrived. The shelves were salvageable but all the merchandise was destroyed.
Rodriguez said the fire marshal and her insurance company ruled out foul play, but the cause of the fire is still labeled undetermined.
Despite the trauma of losing the Main Street store, Rodriguez said she reopened Botanica Okalanque because of her clients. Besides selling merchandise to practice Santeria, Rodriguez is also a spiritual counselor and provides tarot card and energy readings in a quiet back room of the store.
The family were able to reopen with the insurance payment of $20,000 from private business insurance they purchased to cover their merchandise.
Rodriguez said she considers finding the new site almost a blessing. The new store is at the former Castle Comics, near Roma Pizzeria on Wakelee Avenue. Castle Comics closed within the last four months.
Rodriguez recalls her stroke of luck finding the new location.
“I drove by it while desperately looking for a new location,” Rodriguez said. “He (the landlord) had just put up the for rent sign and I just happened to see it.”
The store owners sell a variety of spiritual items to assist followers of Santeria. Since Santeria is a blend of Catholicism and spiritualism, the store also sells items common to Catholic faith such as rosary beads, statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
The shelves are lined mostly with rows of bright colored candles all with a specific purpose. The back walls display baths with hues ranging from lightest pink to the deepest blue. Smells range from sweet and sensual (to attract positive forces) to very pungent (to ward off negative forces).
The best selling items in the store?
“I get a lot of request for items to help with money — and, of course, love,” Rodriguez said.
The store is open Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information, call 203 – 954-8205 or visit the store’s Web site.
