By Jordan Studer
jstuder@wbcowqel.com
What started as a casual conversation about buying out the former Couture Topia Boutique and making it their own was just the beginning of a dream come true for local women Donnetta Lester, Amanda Wiggins, and Melissa Cornwell.
Right in the heart of Uptowne Galion, Amy Hoff started the Couture Topia Boutique a few years back as a children’s boutique but then transitioned into women’s retail. The boutique closed in October, but Amanda Wiggins, a regular customer, didn’t like the thought that she could no longer get her boutique clothes so close to home.
Wiggins explained how she would often ask Lester, an employee of Hoff’s, to try to convince Hoff to reopen the boutique. Wiggins said this talk went on for five or six months, but nothing happened and the store remained closed.
“It kind of escalated from there. Like, ‘Donnetta can you have Amy open the store? Donnetta can you go in and open the store yourself? Hey Donnetta, why don’t we just buy the store ourselves?’” Wiggins laughingly explained.
After Wiggins brought up her vision, Lester was quick to agree to the idea. The two women paired up and also brought in Wiggins’ sister, Cornwell, to be a business partner as well since she has a financial background.
The conversations began in April and the trio took over the boutique in May, buying Hoff’s inventory and adding their own retail to make their own unique and transformed store, Topia Boutique.
Once the word was out that the transition had been made, the trio decided to shut down the boutique for a bit of remodeling to fully make it their own. Within two weeks, the boutique was altered, new inventory was brought in, and the boutique was opened for good.
“We opened our doors for good on July 15th and it’s just been rockin’ and rollin’ ever since!” Wiggins expressed the boutique’s success thus far.
Since the store is up and running, the women have many dreams for The Topia Boutique. Wiggins admits that she is definitely the dreamer of the three and sometimes Lester and Cornwell have to bring her back to reality, but she says she doesn’t see the harm in dreaming.
“I have huge dreams! I want to open up new stores. I want to have multiple store-fronts. I’m currently looking into Belleville and BG (Bowling Green). I know we’ve only been open for not even a month, but I’m still looking to expand the name The Topia,” Wiggins said, painting her vision.
Right now The Topia Boutique only has women’s clothing. They would love to expand and have men’s and even children’s clothing but Wiggins says they don’t have a big enough footprint to do so just yet. Wiggins is also looking into launching online sales for the boutique in the near future as well.
The biggest goal the women have for The Topia Boutique is to keep all of their prices under $50 to bring the community affordable, high-end clothing. They are taking action to keep their prices low by going to Chicago fashion shows and purchasing high-end designer clothing at very reasonable prices.
“We’ve already gotten comments about, ‘oh my gosh, this is a boutique and I’m getting this for twenty bucks!? That’s amazing!’” Wiggins comments.
On top of the low prices, the women want to give the community the best experience by shopping at their boutique.
“We offer more of an experience than places like Kohl’s and Target. We will sit here and we will talk with you and we will tell you what looks good. I’m not going to let you walk out of my store with something that looks frumpy on you! I’m going to make sure you feel comfortable in your clothing, and that if you don’t see anything that you like, we always get shipments in every week so come back next week. It’s more about delivering a personalized experience for you and making sure that you have a one-of a kind piece!” Wiggins explained.
For customers of The Topia Boutique, there is much to look forward to in the near future. For starters, the boutique will be receiving new inventory every week to keep interests high. They will also be participating in the Art Walk that will be happening at the end of the month, which they are very excited about.
The boutique also plans on having an event in the fall very unique to the community, a fashion show. Wiggins also gave some insight that the community should be on the look-out for “look-books” that the boutique will be creating through Wiggins’ photography business.
Also emphasized was the new consistent hours that the boutique established upon re-opening. They ensure that they will always have their hours posted on their doors and social media pages for their customer’s convenience. They want to be sure that customers have ample amount of time to shop for the clothing they love.
The Topia Boutique is located at 242 Harding Way East, and is open Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.