Morning Star Home, run by Lucia Alfonso in Colva, offers diverse home decor, gifts, and handmade items, blending tradition and creativity
The place has its own warmth – surrounded by shelves loaded with pretty little gift items, home decor, handmade greeting cards, artificial flowers, crockery, glassware, cookware, vases, toys, bed sheets, towels, cushions, art decor, paintings, jewellery and scrunchies. You name it and it is here. Even personalised greeting card orders are accepted and delivered. Situated at Colva, Morning Star Home – is a name taken from the Bible and also the initials of Manuel Alfonso and SoonJa Lee. The Alfonso family runs all their businesses with the same title ‘Morning Star’ and the GenNext of Alfonsos is not an exception.
Lucia Alfonso, proprietor of Morning Star Home shares, “The name Morning Star has been used by my dad for all his businesses. So it’s a family business name. All our past businesses were also named the same. And at the moment the two active ones are ‘Morning Star Home’ which is run by me for the past one year and ‘Morning Star Interior Studio’ which is run for the last six years by my brother, Peter Alfonso, an interior designer by profession.”
It’s exactly a year ago that the shop was opened, in June 2023. Lucia, a postgraduate in English from Manipal Centre of Humanities runs two parallel businesses – selling home decor, household items and gifts at her store in Colva, and a side venture ‘Lucy Lee – Pretty Lil Things’ where she makes handmade products like greeting cards, scrunchies and accessories.
“From the beginning I’ve always wanted to have my own business. Even when I went to study for my masters, I had already informed that I will be starting my own business once I graduate. The shop that I’ve started Morning Star Home was actually run by my parents as Morning Star Super Market where we sold grocery items. Since my parents were at the age of retirement, my dad handed over the shop to me and I started Morning Star Home, a home decor and gift shop here,” shares Lucia, who is turning 28 this month, on July 17.
The business was supposed to start in 2020 after she finished her post-graduation. The family had closed down the super market and had started on the renovations of the shop. But that’s when Covid hit and the Alfonsos had to stop everything. “But since we had the business license of the super market we decided to continue it, as we thought a home decor and gift shop wouldn’t work in those troubled times. Finally after two years we decided it was time to try again. So we took a leap of faith and began Morning Star Home in 2023,” Lucia recalls.
The store is full of home decor, artefacts, artificial flowers, crockery, glassware, cookware, vases, toys, bed sheets, towels, cushions, art decor, and gifts. Additionally Lucia has also kept her ‘Lucy Lee’ products for sale here. Passionate for creating aesthetic objects, Lucia indulges in paper art, mandalas, candles, paintings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, scrunchies, greeting cards etc and her list keeps growing.
One good thing is, since there’s no dearth of occasions throughout the year, the store has footfalls all year round and Lucia doesn’t have to rely on any peak season. “Our customers are mostly those who want to buy something for their home. There are interior designers who like to add our products to the space that they design. Others like to buy gifts. Colva is frequently visited by tourists who love to take things when they go back home. We have an Instagram account @morningstarhomegoa, where we post our products,” shares Lucia who likes to travel, go on treks and try adventures. “I’m fond of cooking and baking too. My hobbies are endless, it’s highly possible that I will start one tomorrow,” she quips.
She accepts bulk orders for handmade items only if there is a proper time frame to complete the order. During the festivals there are more customers and Lucy Lee Products get more orders during this time. As a young entrepreneur whose start-up is taking shape yet, Lucia’s USP is adding unique products, and providing her walk-in customers what they keep looking for in the market. She ships her Lucy Lee products all over India. “Lucy Lee items can be purchased from my Instagram account Lucy Lee - Pretty Lil Things: @lucy_lee_alfonso and it’s also available on Swiggy Minis,” she adds.
Morning Star Home is a cosy little place run by the Alfonso family, open from 9.30am to 1.30pm and 4.30pm to 8.30pm, while remaining closed on Sundays. “The main reason I started Morning Star Home is to make living spaces more beautiful and peaceful in a creative way,” concludes Lucia.
