One of a kind store
in the Beechwoods

By TOM KANE

	TRR photo by Tom Kane Freddy and Maria Arch examine an elf that Freddy made. (Click for larger image)

BEECHWOODS, NY — Freddy and Maria Arch have a store that offers customers much more than just items to be sold.

“We want to share our spirituality with our customers along with our products,” Freddy said.

The store which is located at 859 County Road 164 in the Beechwoods, near the Villa Roma is called Stick, Stones, Crystals and Gnomes and serves as a studio and workshop, in addition to a retail store.

The couple, who are openly devout, draw a distinction between religion and spirituality. “We are Catholics, but our products—which have a lot of angels, elves and gnomes—can be appreciated by people from any religion because they represent the spiritual realm,” Maria said.

“We are interested in anything from nature and want to highlight these natural items, like crystals, in a world that is becoming more and more materialistic,” Freddy said.

Their products are artifacts from nature—crystals of varied shapes, aged and rare pieces of wood covered by lichen, pine cones, plants, minerals, figurines of angels, gnomes, elves and fairies.

Freddy also constructs fountains, elaborately decorated with all these images along with the aged wood and dotted with variously sized crystals.

“People today are stressed out and lead hectic lives,” Freddy said. “We are detached from Mother Nature today. These fountains are a way of bring people back to nature with the quiet rippling of the water and the figures of angels and gnomes showing another level of existence. Listening and watching these fountains can get people to meditate and quiet down.”

Maria is a jewelry maker who fashions necklaces, earrings and rings—again using natural minerals of varied colors and crystals.

The couple, who come from Barcelona, Spain, also run a book store of Spanish books in Jackson Heights, the center of the Hispanic community in Queens.

“We have a full-service book store there but specialize in books on spirituality,” Maria said.

In one corner of the store in the Beechwoods stands a shelf of books by such spiritual authors as Deepak Chopra and the popular Brazilian spiritual writer Paulo Coelho.

“Crystals can affect us,” Freddy said. “They’re made of silicone and we know how important silicone is to computers. We and the computer share its power.”