New Gina's Coven shop bringing magic to Hartlepool - while its new 'witch classes' already have 70 signed up

Jazz-singing tarot reader Gina Pontoni, 55, who is running Gina’s Coven in Station Lane has described her new shop as a “cross between Harry Potter, The Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge”.

A retailer like no other, it will sell crystals and Tarot cards among other items aspiring witches and those interested in mystical practices may need.

Gina, who has been reading Tarot cards since she was 10, and has clients from as far as London, has said she hopes the shop will bring more positivity to customers.

The shop has been operating this week but there will be a grand opening on Saturday and Gina says there has already been lots of interest.

She said: “I just want them to walk in and soak up the magical atmosphere and to go away feeling positive, and uplifted and happy.

"There’s hundreds of people who say they want to come on the opening day, so I hope it’s a nice day, because they may have to queue.”

The shop will be open every Saturday and a “witch class” will take place on Sundays.

Seventy people from all over the region have signed up so far – including one “male witch”.

The nine-week course, which is fully booked until the end of the year, sees apprentices learn how to read Tarot cards, meditate and heal with the help of crystals.

Gina said: “We’re not going to be dancing around fires, it’s all good stuff.”

She says she always wanted to have a witchy shop, but wasn’t actively looking for a premises until a series of events brought her to the former site of Coral bookmakers in Station Lane.

Gina, whose father had a shoe shop on the same street, said a Tarot reading in December last year predicted a huge opportunity would come into her life in four months.

At the time she had no intention of acting upon her plans for a shop, until she saw that the site of Coral bookmakers was up for lease at the end of January.

Gina said: "When I went to view the property, a black cat ran over my feet and I just thought ‘Wow!’. That was a big sign.

"It’s like a serendipity, isn’t it? There’s also a massive flat upstairs. I’m not doing anything with that at the minute, but the workmen told me on the top floor there is a snooker table.

"My dad was a big snooker player, he used to teach all the young lads snooker. And there is a snooker table on the top floor, how weird is that.

"It’s absolutely serendipitous. I’m over the moon, I just love it.”

During lockdown, Gina entertained people on Facebook with a live “Tarot and Laughter” show every Saturday night, attracting more than 30,000 views at a time. She says she will continue to do the show once a month alongside reading Tarot for clients and running the shop.

Gina’s Coven is open on a Saturday from 10am until 5pm. Due to Covid restrictions, only four customers will be allowed inside at any one time.

Her life was shattered in 2004. Gina had been out with her friend when her car was involved in an accident on the M61 in Lancashire.

Witnesses said her vehicle spun around in the air three times before landing on its roof.

Gina spent two weeks in the intensive care unit of a Bolton hospital and pulled through.

But her injuries included a lump on her throat which was too deep to operate and doctors gave her a 10 per cent chance of singing again.

She did, but three years later doctors diagnosed a serious erosion of her vocal cords and told her she might have to quit the profession she loved.

Gina then turned to a vocal coach and eventually recovered.

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