Witch Bitch Thrift Creates New Haunt In New Haven

Virginia Semeghini Photos

Ray and Semeghini in front of their new location with faithful friends Chubble and Hazel.

Something new is brewing behind the paper-covered windows of 105 Whitney Ave., and business owners Virginia Semeghini and Eva Ray are hoping you’ll want to come down and be a part of it. Witch Bitch Thrift, the online thrift shopping site that became a cherished Bridgeport storefront has now moved its headquarters to New Haven in the former home of Take 5 Audio. The plan is to continue to foster a community that has its roots in one person’s dream of making a space where she could not only sell thrift clothing and other treasures, but also build a treasured group of supportive friends. 

The idea for the thrift store appeared kind of out of nowhere,” said Semeghini. It was a long time coming, but at the same time it was a magical idea.” Born and raised in Brazil, she learned about thrifting when she moved to Bridgeport in 2008 at the age of 18. 

I had always craved this space that never existed growing up,” she said. Noting that she had been plus-sized ever since she was a kid, she recalled buying clothes as always kind of a traumatic experience,” including being in the dressing room and finding access to plus-size clothing. One had to go to special stores that were far away that were hard to find,” and it was like a walk of shame to go there.” When she became a teenager and started to dress more alternatively and explore, she became the odd one out.”

Back then that was just not cool, and the places that existed that weren’t alternative spaces were very cliquey, and I hated feeling like there was that exclusion,” she said. I’d dream of a place I could go to where I could thrift, and it could be cool, and it doesn’t have to be the same thrift shop experience as any other. It could be different, but it didn’t exist.”

That changed one early morning in August 2020, when an idea popped into Semeghini’s head. 

A thrift store, a witchy thrift store, that would be really friggin’ cool, what would it be called?” she remembered musing. And it was just basically me like joking around in my head, what would I call a witchy thrift shop?’ And then I just started bouncing around ideas … and this was probably like seven in the morning — and my brain is really active in the morning — so I was like, witch bitch, witch bitch, witch bitch!’ I remember it was like a scene from a movie. I pulled out my computer and I pull all these things up, and I’m like, this has to exist already,’ and I’m looking it up and I’m buying the domain and I’m saving all of the social media handles and I’m recording everything, as if, if I didn’t save everything right in that second, someone else was going to think about it one second after I did and take it. And I just couldn’t have that happen. It was this panic mode, as if I never needed something more in my life. By the time I was done, I was sitting in my chair, like, what just happened?’”

On Sept. 13, 2020, Semeghini and longtime friend Amanda Kelley debuted Witch Bitch Thrift as an online shopping experience via their Instagram page, starting with pieces they had in their closet and posting them to their feed. They had interest and numerous followers before they sold one piece. 

The Witch Bitch logo.

We just kind of dove right in because people were really into it,” said Semeghini. Even before we started posting things, something was drawing people to us, like, whatever you guys is about to do, that sounds great, I’m in’ … by the time we had our first drop, we already had about 500 followers, and these people knew nothing about us. They were just like, this sounds cool, count me in.’”

Sales soon became a weekly occurrence with curated groupings, on-location photo shoots, and friends selling them their clothing to sell as well. Offerings were size inclusive — everything from extra small to 8X — and gender inclusive as well. They listed all pieces on their website by their fit and size, not relying on tag size, which they considered arbitrary and unreliable.” The idea was to have options for all. 

That’s always been it, to have it be a range,” said Semeghini.

Having creative, unique, thought-provoking pieces, but also having the basic pieces and not conforming to gender constructs or anything like that,” said Ray. Definitely being accessible for any and all people. We wanted everybody to be able to walk into our store and not feel like, oh I don’t feel like I fit in now,’ or, oh, this is intimidating.’” 

People have asked us before if we wanted to do plus-size only, or if we wanted to focus on plus size, but it was never a question for us,” Ray continued. We want everybody to have a chance to find something, like as many people as humanly physically possible to be able to come here together, to have groups of friends come, and nobody has to feel like, there’s nothing for me.’ ”

A larger sensibility arose out of selling clothes as well, Ray noted. Visually we treated everything as art. It was never just the clothes. We never just posted like, here’s this t shirt on the hanger.’ We always wanted to give a feeling behind it, an aesthetic with the themes with the photo shoots we were doing.”

Semeghini modeling an outfit for a sale.

Some of the themes that have shown up in the weekly drops include dark academia, cottage core, whimsy goth, an elemental collection, and bat parade, which was so popular it became a recurring theme. The Witch Bitch aesthetic became even more evident when they opened their first storefront in early 2021. 

Originally based in Semeghini’s and Ray’s living room (they are currently engaged to be married), the business moved into an office in the Bridgeport Innovation Center in January 2021 and opened to the public in March. They began with private appointments, but ended up opening to the public because so many people were asking to come in. 

They inevitably began to outgrow the small but welcoming space as their following reached larger numbers and spread across the globe. According to Ray and Semeghini, their total number of followers via all of their social media accounts (they are on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and Pinterest) and email subscribers is about 250,000 at this point. 

Ray, who had initially worked part-time for the business and then eventually became a full-time employee, took over as a co-owner in February 2022 when Kelley left the business. In May 2022, Witch Bitch left the space in Bridgeport, and the two ran operations out of their living room once again, this time selling all of their furniture to have the space to accommodate their growing business. They found their new location in July and moved in last week. They knew right away this was the one. 

We wanted someplace to be our flagship operation, to be like the blueprint for future locations, and just be like the home base,” said Semeghini. We wanted a place to be in for the long run.”

With a little over 2,700 square feet and multiple rooms to work with, including one with a stage in it, they are weighing all their options regarding how to set it up to give their community the best situation possible, including possibly setting up a maze” like shopping experience. 

They may make it more of a whimsical situation because I feel like every other place is open concept,” said Semeghini. I like the idea of having it where you can’t quite see everything from the front, but you see a little bit, and then you go in and you see a little bit more, and you kind of explore. I feel like as a consumer that is way more attractive to me than just a blank box kind of vibe. I love an experience. I want to feel that as a consumer, and I want that for our customers. We want them to feel the experience.” 

I feel like our shop has never been just about the clothes,” she continued. It’s the experience of coming to the place and it looks cool, and the colors are interesting, and the furniture is funky. You kind of get taken into that, so this is on a bigger scale now with all this space. I think we have more chances to make it interesting.” 

That includes making a community room/special event space where the stage is, something the Witch Bitch community has been asking for for a long time,” according to Semeghini, to have these events, classes, workshops, gatherings” that they did not have to space to hold comfortably in their Bridgeport location.

The Witch Bitch community, after all, is a vital part of the entire concept, and their voices and needs are always heard and always welcomed. 

Our community is so connected,” said Semeghini. 

And we want it to be. We promote that,” added Ray.

Ray and Semeghini at their former location in Bridgport.

It’s never a one-sided experience,” said Semeghini. We’re always talking to our customers. I spend so much of my time in our DMs and in our comment sections talking to people asking questions.… We’ve always done that, and I think that has shaped a lot of our business. We do what people ask for.” 

This includes asking customers on Instagram to make wish lists and inquiring as to what they might be looking for. And if someone has an issue, we always come from a position of, OK, what can we do first to fix it or take accountability for it?’ But also, how can we change it to do better?’” said Semeghini. 

There’s a general level of respect in our entire community,” said Ray. No one is trying to bash on each other or make each other feel bad or not accepted or included.” 

Respect is key, as is providing a safe space for all. 

It’s kind of like this unspoken rule, but I think people caught on to the fact that our space was never about come and spend your money,’” said Semeghini. It was more about come and hang out.’ If you like something, great, buy it, but we’re never pushing sales. We wouldn’t want to be pushed.”

The two are thrilled that the new spot has wheelchair accessibility, street access, more parking options, and proximity to a bus line, the highway, and bike racks. They also love that it is easy to spot. The foot traffic is absolutely awesome here,” said Semeghini. 

In the short time they have been there, the two have already been exploring and falling in love with their new neighborhood. 

We love that you can come to Witch Bitch and also go explore New Haven,” said Ray. 

There’s so much we can tell people they can do,” added Semeghini, noting that they may create a sort of guidebook of things they love in New Haven that they can give to customers.

They will also be using this larger space to expand what they refer to as their apothecary, which includes incense, candles, herbs, books, and tarot decks. They have made their own spell kits and zodiac kits, and had a collaboration collection with other small businesses and brands that made Witch Bitch-exclusive products like perfumes and soaps. 

And then, of course, there is the thrifted modern and vintage clothing, accessories, small gifts, and housewares. Witch Bitch is always looking for people who want to sell to them, and from now until Oct. 8 they are offering 5 percent more than usual for anything they receive. They offer either cash or store credit for goods sold to them. Appointments to drop off goods must be made via email for the time being, with buying and selling guidelines listed on their website. 

The storefront itself will not be open regularly for the time being. They are hoping to have a grand opening as early as mid-November as renovations still need to be made, but meanwhile, they are preparing for the aptly titled Witch Bitch Halloween Pop Up Experience, scheduled for Oct. 15 through 31. As always, the decision to do a pop up was community based.

We started getting so many messages, emails, contacts from people asking, are you going to be back for spooky season? Are you going to be back for October? Have you found a space yet? Are you going to be open?’” said Semeghini. People were like, we need to be able to go to Witch Bitch for Halloween.’ This sense of urgency became so real.”

So, while regular store hours will have to wait, and the phone line won’t be in until Oct. 11, those eager to have a piece of the Witch Bitch experience can still catch weekend story sales on Instagram or shop the website until the pop-up event, which Semeghini promises will be a playful time.”

Come peek at it, come see what happens,” she added. You’ll get a little bit of an inside scoop. This is like a little introduction.”

Semeghini and Ray are hoping to mirror the concept of a third place,” an idea that two friends mentioned to them on the same day and in a synchronistic way. 

Our friend Ady … she sent this message the other day and she’s like, you are my third place,’” said Semeghini. She also sent a video. It was this guy explaining how, back in the day, people had a third place to go to, which was not their house and not their job, but it was a third place that they go to relax, to talk to people, to meet new friends, to do whatever. This is the place you go when you don’t have anything to do. You go there and you hang out, and she was saying how that was us. I answered her and was like, oh my god, this is amazing. I love this concept.’ This embodied exactly what we want.” 

At the same time, she had another message underneath that one from another friend who had never been to the store. He sent her the same video. And I was almost crying,” said Semeghini. I was like, this is literally it.’”

Ray reiterated that it was all about how to make that third place concept come to fruition.

We’ve already been asking everyone that comes in, what do you think?’” said Semeghini with a laugh. We really, really appreciate the community that we’ve cultivated with this business. It blows my mind every time I think about it. Sometimes I wake up and think, is this really what I do for a living?’ Like, this is my job. This was a curveball in the best of ways. I love being here. I just love existing here. I just feel very grateful that the idea came here, and it feels like this gift that I have to honor. It feels like some higher power was like, here’s the idea, do right by this, because this is good.’”

The Witch Bitch Thrift website is always open for shopping and has additional information, including selling guidelines. Announcements about sales and events, including the pop up and an eventual grand opening date, will also be available via their social media pages on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok. 


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