Nikki Rutledge has spent a lot of time in Salem, Massachusetts. Now she’s bringing a little bit of Salem to Dracut.

Nikki and her husband, Tyler Rutledge, have opened Moonlight & Mindfulness at 91 Mill Street in the historic Beaver Brook Mill. Dracut Economic Development held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 8 to welcome the business to town.

Nikki hopes Moonlight & Mindfulness becomes “a sort of holistic wellness hub” where, in addition to selling such items as homemade soy candles, crystals, jewelry and more, it will host workshops for meditation, yoga, Reiki, shamanic drumming and even candle-making.

Moonlight & Mindfulness came about when Nikki, who was working as the assistant marketing director for Boston University at the time, held a moon circle in the couple’s Dracut apartment. (Moon circles have been described as “yoga classes for the soul.”)

“It brought me so much joy to teach others about the current astrological events and how we can both harness and navigate this energy to better ourselves,” Nikki says on the store’s website, www.moonlightmindfulness.com.

They held more of the events, then she and Tyler began experimenting with creating products to go along with the moon circles.

“Tyler started to make these wire-wrapped crystal medallions to give out at the moon circles,” Nikki said.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, they started an online store on Etsy, selling their products, including “clean” candles Tyler started producing.

“Tyler came home one day and said, ‘I want to make candles,’ so we decided to make candles,” Nikki said. “But they’re clean candles. I used to get headaches from burning some candles, so we developed a line of clean candles that are safe to breathe in. And we’ve developed a horror-movie candle line.”

Hey, we told you they’re bringing a little bit of Salem to Dracut.

Tyler also sells the 100% soy candles at his business, Professional Barbers of Lowell, 103 University Avenue, Lowell, which has been around since 1913, first as Dufresne’s Barber Shop. (Tyler’s father, Jim Rutledge, bought the shop from the original family that owned it, then passed it on to Tyler about 10 years ago.)

Before Nikki and Tyler knew it, their products were selling on Etsy like magic (or magick, the preferred term for those in the holistic-healing business to differentiate their craft from stage magic).

With more than 10,000 sales on Etsy and 41,000 followers on Instagram, the couple decided to take the next step – opening a physical store.

“We’d be at fairs or festivals and people would keep asking us, ‘Where’s your store?’” Nikki said. “And we’d say, ‘We don’t have one.’ Now we do.

“Around December, I thought it was time to move into a physical space. I was feeling stagnant online. We had a big Christmas rush, but I really felt like it was time for something bigger. So we decided if we could find a location, great. Then we saw this space was available, and we fell in love with it.”

In just a matter of a few months, the space – located next to the Dracut Access Television offices and a few doors down from Owen and Ollie’s Restaurant -- was transformed into a store that has three retail rooms, including one called “The Moonlight Room,” representing darkness, and another dubbed “The Mindfulness Room,” representing light.

“We’re really all about taking the light and the dark sides of yourself and blending them,” Nikki said.

Another room is set aside for workshops.

Moonlight & Mindfulness’ website has a list of upcoming events, starting with the official grand opening on May 11 and including an Energy Sound Bath & Tea Circle on May 19, a Reiki 1 certification course in May 25, and Roses & Reiki on July 13.

The shop is also partnering with another new business in Dracut, Rooted Wellness Company, 155 Broadway Road, which offers yoga, massage, a sauna and more. Moonlight & Mindfulness is creating a line of candles for Rooted Wellness.

Find out more about Moonlight & Mindfulness at www.moonlightmindfulness.com, or by emailing Moonlightmindfulness@gmail.com.

CAPTIONS:

At the ribbon-cutting for Moonlight & Mindfulness on May 8 are, from left, Jim Rutledge; Selectman Jennifer Kopcinski; owners Nikki and Tyler Rutledge; Lowell state Rep. Rodney Elliott, a friend of the Rutledge family; Meaghan St. Jean, a member of the Dracut Economic Development Committee; and Danielle McFadden, president and CEO of the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce.

Some items for sale at <Moonlight & Mindfulness.