In Southington, A Shop For The Supernatural
- Philip Thibodeau
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
The first clue Southington residents had that something strange was coming to town may have been the unusual black jeep parked in the lot behind Factory Square last year:
The vehicle, it turns out, was owned by Nathan Nuñez, who had recently signed a lease for a space on the first floor of Factory Square adjacent to Escapism Escape Rooms.
Behind a doorway that looked like something from the set of a Harry Potter movie, one could hear the sound of drilling and banging, and the occasional bar of spooky music. Finally, in March of this year, a store opened there. It had an odd name: ‘Curioporium’.
Something To See
So what exactly is Curioporium? It depends on who you ask.
“Google or Facebook keeping putting me down as an antique shop – antique shop, haunted house, retail gift shop, museum… The original iteration of Curioporium in 2018 was an antique store. Now it has progressed to something more like what I originally wanted: customers come and say, ‘you just have to see it’. That’s one of my favorite phrases.”
Visually, Curioporium looks rather like a museum devoted to all things odd, rare, and paranormal. Its themes run the gamut from horror and spiritualism to cryptids, Victorian-era crime, and UFO’s.
Yet unlike a museum, almost everything you find inside is for sale. Some of the items are mass-produced, like socks, soaps, hairbands, stickers, and books. But most are unique specimens: works of taxidermy, art-pieces, photographs, and assorted strange antiques.
Asked to describe his ideal customers, Nuñez breaks them down by age.
“We start with the kids of course. There is a lot of kids stuff up front. People are not sure what this place is, but then they see a stuffed animal. Yes, it may be a Cthulhu, but it’s a stuffed animal. For kids, this place is hands-on; touch anything you like.”
“Then it’s for groups that are into the spooky. Then, for people who come in looking for vintage books and items. Then, for older individuals – many over the age of 60 – who are seeing vintage items from when they were a child, like 35mm slides.”
“I wanted to create something for all the stages of life. I’m coming up on 50 myself and the store is a kind of retrospective of all the things I have enjoyed in my life, from childhood to now.”
That said, children may represent the largest and most devoted segment of his customer base.
“This weekend was the ‘Wee Witches’ Cauldron Hunt’. Think of an easter-egg hunt, but with little cauldrons filled with spooky stickers and Slinkies. We do it on Sundays, Lantern Sunday, when the lights are lower. We went through over a 100 cauldrons, one per child, so over a hundred children.”
Southington’s Siren Song
The tale of how Nuñez chose Southington as the site for his curiosity shop has various twists and turns. When he was first looking for a place to build Curioporium, he gave the town serious consideration, eyeing a space on the third floor of Factory Square. He and his wife were familiar with the area as owners of a business in Plainville, and were attracted by the “little streets and little stores” of Southington’s downtown.
Then his brother suggested a location in Hartford in the area of Park Street and Sissan Avenue. It lay near the area where they had grown up, was affordable and possessed some character. For that reason Curioporium first opened in Hartford, where it met with some success.
Yet over time a problem emerged: while the shop was a destination for people driving in from elsewhere, it was not drawing enough customers from casual foot traffic or people in the neighborhood.
So the lure of Factory Square grew again. A 5000-square foot space was available in the basement. Nuñez signed a lease and drew up plans for a large space with areas for retail, performance, antiques, and a café.
But then, in January of 2024, disaster struck: the basement of the building flooded, ruining many of the props and items that were being stored there.
It was time for a choice. One option involved rebuilding the props and forging ahead with plans for a space that would feature a collection of familiar, easy-to-describe entertainments.
The other was to move upstairs to the first floor, and construct a shop that would be much smaller, but also much more strange, and unique.
Nuñez chose the latter option. The result? A topsy-turvy blend of museum, haunted house, and antique store that is both an immersive experience and a popular retail destination.
Curioporium is full of imaginary frights. But for Nuñez, crafting its unique space involved conquering a real fright – fear of failure. “My biggest challenge has been finding my personal voice. When you are really authentic, it becomes a lot easier – but it’s scary, too.”
So far, this step into the unknown has proven to be the right one.
Our full interview with Curioporium owner Nathan Nuñez is available below.
For more photography by CT Drone Source, see this link.
