Astro West Fine Minerals Fossils Meteorites — Attraction in New York

We had our twin grandchildren in town for an overnight visit and planned a visit to Astro West. I had previously met with Brice, the truly knowledgeable, courteous staffer on duty who showed me around the shop and suggested that I look into arranging to have him set up the shearing of a geode as a fun activity for the children. So, last weekend I arrived with the girls in tow- we did a walk around getting great insights from Brice who pointed out to the young children many of the more interesting minerals and sculptures, often removing items from their shelf to provide a closer look. We ended our impromptu tour in front of a large barrel holding a large supply of intact geodes, all around the size of a Spalding baseball. Once the twins agreed on the geode of choice, Brice then placed the geode in a shearing device (with thick plexiglass for protected viewing) he then allowed the girls to pull on the activator which in a matter of a few seconds had the shearing device put enough pressure on the geode to split it into two equal pieces; No fight over "who got the bigger half". The "pop" of the geode as it flew apart was immediately followed by squeals of delight as the girls picked up their semi-hollow geodes, each bearing a beautiful garden of white and clear quartz crystals. A great guy working in a fine store - a highlight for the girls NY visit....

Filip happened to be very snarky you know he went to go on for 20 minutes about how he almost sold some Zinc Crystal 10 times and didn't sell it once and then tried to talk me to death about something that had nothing to do with our business. All in all zero out of 10 rating they're lucky I gave them one star because I asked to set an appointment for a private collection showing they never got back to me knowing I was coming from out of state and then proceeded to try to tell me that he couldn't do business in a very misguidedand atrocious manner. Which I'm sure coming from a rock hound, 99 out of 100 people in this industry and or profession or hobby would love the bluntness of somebody saying I don't want to...

A few weeks ago after visiting The Museum of Natural History, my wife and I took my son who wants to be a paleontologist to Astro West. We were searching for a fossil or a meteorite. We were in the store for 20 + mins while the owner talked to a man from Argentina. Not once were we greeted or our presence/existence acknowledged by the owner/manager. Our experience at Astro West was a great opportunity to teach our son about the experience of SHOPPING WHILE BLACK. Too ofter Africa Americans are either followed and harassed or ignored all together in stores. Perhaps a sign saying No Blacks Allowed would have saved us 20 mins of our time. Rest assured we won't be heading back to that lovely...