Brianna Punsalang once walked into a local store branded as metaphysical looking for some supplies. When employees tried to sell them on a “Tarot for Teens” class, they thought the local shop must not have had a very diverse clientele. Brianna was 30 at the time.
Though they are originally from Laguna Beach, Brianna moved to the Reno area about six years ago from Artesia, CA.
“So after comparing notes with some of our friends, we just realized like, okay, like we need to open a witchy store that everybody feels welcome and everybody feels safe asking questions regardless of like gender or sexual orientation or ethnicity,” Brianna said.
After launching an online store in July of 2019, Brianna and their partner Michael Gomez opened the Coyote Supply Co storefront that November, at 30 Mary St Ste. 15.
“I’d been in retail since I was 19 and it just kind of felt like it was the thing I was the best at, but I had some concerns about the fast fashion industry that I was working in and just the ethics and the sustainability of it,” they said. “So I really wanted to open a boutique that I could kind of change the way that we think about retail.”
A range of products line the shelves of Coyote Supply Co., available for witches and nonwitches alike.
When asked what witchcraft meant to them, Brianna said, “I was raised Pagan, so I've been coming from my mom's influence, which is, she's Irish American, so I'm definitely more like Celtic leaning, um, despite my Asian appearance. But I've mixed. And for me, it's just about honoring the seasons, it's about working with nature and for nature instead of against it and trying to control nature. And, for me, I just draw a lot of my influences from my indigenous Filipino side, being Kapampangan and Ilocano and like the folk magic from there. And then my mom's like Celtic, like neopagan practices.”
Michael, the co-owner, has been practicing for about a decade and draws from his Jaliscan and German backgrounds.
The two also bring their “22-pound floof ball”, Björn, to the shop in a cat backpack, equipped with a clear dome so he can see the world. He is paid in cat treats, and loves scratching the shipping supplies instead of a scratching post.
The misconceptions surrounding witches and witchcraft often has people confused about who Brianna and Michael are and what they do.
“I also just want to point out because a lot of people, when I first opened, just assumed, ‘You're like Satanists,’ which were not, witches actually don't even generally believe in Satan, unless they're from like a religious background that includes Satan as part of the religion. So yeah, most witches don't actually believe in Satan. We're definitely not Satanists, we’re not sacrificing goats, we're vegan. And, we don't believe in like black magic versus white magic and the dichotomy of that, because it's rooted in colonialism.”
Björn watches the shop from the office, where only “House Witches” are allowed.
As a first-generation queer witch, Brianna tries to support many BIPOC and queer creators as well. The pair are Great Basin Community Food Co-op alumni, where they were inspired by the triple bottom line practices. This is a major source of inspiration for Coyote Supply Co’s low environmental impact, and their zero-waste mission.
“Especially Michael and I being BIPOC and LGBTQ plus, we just wanted to make sure that we were prioritizing BIPOC makers, other queer makers, small makers. And if I'm going to carry spiritual items, they need to be made by the witches that are practicing with them, and that they're also from the appropriate culture.”
Coyote Supply Co and Sarah Jane Smith from Mount Rose Alchemy, another local Reno business, teamed up during the pandemic to create free BIPOC care packages for those in Reno and across the country. So far, they’ve distributed about 100 care packages filled with donation based items.
Despite the somewhat out of view location and limited square footage (measuring at about one hundred square feet), Coyote Supply Co brings in customers from all backgrounds.
“So many of our customers have actually ended up being like friends and makers now, which is so rad to see that, like, community building happen so quickly and organically. Our clientele actually ended up being a lot younger than I expected. It's mainly Gen Z, which is cool. Cause like I'm an elder millennial and I just joined Tik Tok and I have no idea what's going on, on there,” Brianna said. “So it's definitely surprising, but, we're really diverse. It's very, it's very queer, it's very witchy. It’s very mixed in terms of diversity and we've got witches from all different spiritual practices, which is really cool. We've got Catholic witches, we've got Hoodoo practitioners, we've got Indigenous Native witches, like everything.”
One shelf is dedicated to Plant Magic products, made by Cheryl Rafuse. The booklets shown include stickers, potion recipes, planting guides, and other plant care information.
During the pandemic shutdowns, Coyote Supply Co was “signal boosted” by Cheryl Rafuse from Plant Magic, who also worked as a branding and marketing consultant during their initial launch. Through online orders, they were able to reach witches near and far and stay afloat.
For those new to witchcraft or intrigued, Brianna has words of encouragement especially those introduced through TikTok and a growing social media trend known as Witchtok.
“Don't let anybody tell you that you’re a baby witch and you don't know what you're talking about. Like, people have been aware of magic forever and it's not something you're ever going to perfect, so don't put yourself down and don't let anyone else put you down.”
Coyote Supply Co is open every day except for Tuesdays, from 12pm to 6pm. Fair warning, the pair are “notoriously late” when it comes to opening on time, due to the fact they live in Carson City and are not morning people.