The Magic Parlor — Local services in Salem

If I could give this store ZERO 0️⃣ STARS, I would. 😡 I was visiting Salem with my family and my kids wanted to go in this “magic” store. We had just visited the candy store but their candy was in a bag. I was talking to the owner/employee (a bald headed male) having a light conversation about the colored contacts on when I grabbed 2 sour patch candies out of my candy bag. The door sign said “no messy foods” so I saw no harm in popping 2 sour patch kids directly into my mouth. The male employee went from being kind and chatty in our conversation to a complete @$$hole in a split second and said, “there is no eating in this store” in a hateful voice. I smiled and giggled as I popped them in my mouth and zipped up the candy to put away because I seriously thought he was joking (my kids and husband who is a retired law enforcement officer of 20+ years thought the same) since we were mid sentence in convo and it was such a quick snap of personality in an extremely unprofessional way. I was not at all resistant and put the candy up immediately and only ate the ones already in my hand to lick the sticky off. He proceeded to then raise his voice and tell me to “get out of his store… I said there’s no eating and you proceeded to eat them anyways so get out!” I simply walked out but on the way said “no actually your sign says no messy foods and 2 sour patch kids aren’t messy” but I would NEVER ever support a business like this. Our family could have been paying customers but instead I will be sure to share how inappropriate and unprofessional this behavior was and I do not recommend supporting this overpriced store. I’m a business owner myself and a little kindness and respect of simply saying “im sorry ma’am but please no eating in here” would have sufficed. Im a grown adult, not a child, and it wasn’t like I was eating melting chocolate or a messy funnel cake. I almost never write negative reviews but felt this one was worthy. If you continue to read reviews on this store / owner on various platforms, you’ll find that I’m not the only one that’s had a negative experience in this store…so...

I have been a regular customer of the Magic Parlor for over a decade. I’ve gone to Stephanie every New Year’s for tarot readings. The store had a bit of a rocky changeover when the previous owners sold the store, but because I enjoyed my annual reading.

That tradition ends now.

I’ve been busking in Salem for a year, and set up a busking pitch in front of the 5’ wide alley between the Magic Parlor and Hotel Salem. At a few points during my set, people came out of the store and threw snapper things (small gunpowder parcels sold at joke shops) in front of me. I thought nothing of it until the owner came out, stood over me, and snarled at me to move. I moved a few steps to the right (so that I was closer to the hotel) and played a few songs without incident... until someone threw a stink bomb at me. While the bomb didn’t hit me, I felt physically threatened by the owner and employees.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Stephanie over the years, but I cannot go to a store where I feel...

Terrible customer service and filthy. We were visiting from out of town with our kids and perused the shops in Salem. My 12-year-old daughter picked up a slime in this shop that had previously been opened and had been re-taped with scotch tape and placed back on the shelf for sale. The man working the counter immediately came up and accused her of opening it and told her she would have to pay for it. We thought he was making a funny joke because, clearly, it was junk and had already been opened. But he wasn’t. When my husband attempted to explain that the package had already been opened, the clerk treated us like shoplifters. I’m all for small businesses being careful with their inventory, but when you’re trying to sell junk slime that you’ve rigged together with scotch tape by making accusations of shoplifting, then your business is clearly in trouble and you need a new strategy. Good luck with your balance sheet. PS - All of the other shops/clerks we’ve visited in Salem have...