INside the brick exterior of an old hinton building, Boho is another world.
Written by Karin Fuller
In the middle of Hinton’s quiet historic district is an unusually colorful surprise of a shop—a shop that feels loud, but in a wonderful way. Boho, located in a charming old building on 2nd Avenue, carries everything from housewares and gifts to clothing, art, and painting supplies. Such a wide variety of eclectic items, yet they all seem at home together. It is easy to tell they were curated by the same person: store owner Kristal Straub.
Straub may be the reason the shop feels loud—”live life out loud” is her own personal slogan. “Several years ago, while getting a tattoo, the person I was with remarked he was just ‘watching Kristal live her life out loud.’ The slogan stuck,” Straub says. I don’t think we’re meant to live our lives in the shadows or in a way that hides our truth. Boho’s function is not primarily to make money. I created it to be a safe place where anyone would feel welcome while encouraging people to live their own lives out loud.”
Raised in Port Huron, Michigan, Straub first visited the nearby Pipestem area while in college. She spent her spring break in West Virginia with a student group of volunteers performing minor home repairs for the elderly. “I loved West Virginia from the start,” she says. “I could breathe here. I could become the best version of myself here in a way I couldn’t in Michigan.”
Although she works as a therapist at the Monroe Health Center, she opened Boho in 2019 with the goal of creating a shop that would appeal as much to Hinton residents as it would to tourists, while reflecting her own free spirit.
The shop isn’t large, but everywhere you look there’s something to discover, something that draws your attention and causes you to linger. The store’s old wooden floors creak wonderfully as shoppers mill about, and the exposed brick wall provides the perfect backdrop for the colorful wares.
“The vast majority of my stock comes from small and local businesses,” says Straub. Dish scrubbies made by a woman from Pinch. Beloved West Virginia–made Blenko glass and Fiestaware. Jewelry she makes herself as well as pieces by Caitlyn’s Clay Creations in Summers County and Dismantled Designs in Hinton.
Ask Straub about some of her favorite items, and she lights up. “The hemp oil lip balm from Soul Flower,” she says immediately. “It nourishes your lips and isn’t waxy like typical lip balms. I have them squirreled away everywhere. Far and away the best I’ve ever used.”
The first thing shoppers seem to do upon entering the shop is draw in a deep breath and say, “Mmmmm.” The products responsible for causing that reaction are the Maroma brand of soaps, incense, and sachets— they evoke the desire to put some on the floor and roll in it. Among the store’s best-selling items are Guatemalan worry dolls, headbands, T-shirts, Swedish dishcloths, Turkish mosaic glass lamps, tapestries, temporary tattoos, and stickers.
“I carry some vintage pieces, too,” says Straub. “And some items from fair trade and co-ops in countries like Africa and Guatemala.” She does not offer items at Boho that are also for sale at other stores in Hinton. “It is important to me that what Boho offers is unique.”
Boho is currently open Wednesday through Saturday. Visit its colorful Facebook page for notices of additional dates and times the store will be open.
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM WV LIVING’S WINTER 2022 ISSUE
Leave a Reply