MANSFIELD — Walking around a mall or department store for new clothes might not be an enjoyable experience for everyone, especially if they don’t know what they’re looking for.
Jessica Klupp said her favorite part about being a boutique owner is helping people who don’t know what to wear find and put together an outfit they love — a personal touch customers might not find in other retail spaces.
Jessica Klupp owns Olive and Oak Company with her sister-in-law, Sam Klupp, and mother-in-law, Amy Klupp. Though the physical store has only been open since January 2021, Amy Klupp said Olive and Oak already has a dedicated customer base. She remembers one of those customers suggesting a shopping event jointly hosted by local boutiques in Richland County.
Amy Klupp liked the idea of a boutique crawl, so she individually approached different owners in the area to ask if they wanted to make a special shopping experience catered to local women.
“We’re all small businesses, we’re all in the same community, we’re all raising families — there’s no need for competition,” Amy Klupp said.
After multiple meetings and discussions among owners, six local clothing boutiques are hosting a three-day-long boutique crawl complete with promotions, giveaways and gift card drawings. The crawl will be Oct. 6 to 8.
Richland Source talked with each participating boutique owner about the styles of clothing they carry and plans for the crawl event.
Find Olive and Oak at:
271 Cline Ave. in Mansfield, inside the Cline Wood medical complex.
Facebook: Olive & Oak Company
Instagram: @olive.oak.company
Website: olive-oak-company.myshopify.com
Open hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
MANSFIELD — Amy, Jessica and Sam Klupp often hear people call their clothing boutique “a hidden gem.”
The Klupp family already owned the building and Olive and Oak’s space wasn’t occupied. So, the three women started a clothing boutique to offer unique styles ranging from bohemian and modern fashion to Ohio State gameday gear.
Amy Klupp said each of Olive and Oak’s owners have unique styles and can relate to women of different age groups. For the boutique crawl, Olive and Oak is trying to schedule live music in its parking lot one afternoon.
Oct. 6-8 is the first boutique crawl of what the owners hope to make an annual event. Sam Klupp said the boutique owners will take note of what works well for the first weekend and consider changes for the following years.
“I want customers to have a good positive shopping experience and to see all of the amazing places that they can shop besides a Target, Kohl’s, Walmart or whatever,” Sam Klupp said. “Not necessarily pulling them out of there, but showing them there are other places that have affordable clothing.”
Amy Klupp said she is open to including more boutiques and locally owned businesses beyond clothing stores next year, such as home decor or restaurants. Participants in this year’s boutique crawl can pick up “passports” wherever they shop first and get stamps after spending $25 at each boutique for gift card drawing entries.
Amy Klupp said owners decided to spread the crawl across three days so customers can take their time at each shop to find pieces they like. Thursday and Friday hours at each boutique are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday’s hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We love small business and we think that there’s so many small boutiques in town that there’s no reason to shop online or really anywhere else,” Amy Klupp said. “We all have websites, store fronts and you can order online and pick up.”
Find Bloom Boutique at:
48 Park Ave. W. in Mansfield, next door to Roots hair salon.
Facebook: Bloom_boutique50
Instagram: @bloom_boutique50
Website: bloomboutique50.myshopify.com
Open hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
MANSFIELD — Growing up between Bellville and Butler, Janelle Blake remembers not knowing what she wanted to do professionally in high school.
“I was like, ‘Eh, let’s just go to cosmetology school down at the career center,’” she said. “So I did it and I fell in love with it. The more and more that I evolve in this business, the more and more I love it.”
Blake has owned Roots hair salon in Mansfield for about 10 years and opened Bloom Boutique last year. She previously worked in Ontario’s Servex Center in the same complex as B.E. Humble.
“I like it to be more of a personal shopper kind of thing,” Blake said.
She described Bloom’s style as “boho with modern influences.” Though the boutique typically draws a young- to middle-aged crowd, Blake said anyone can find something they like in her boutique. Bloom also launched its men’s line about three months ago.
Blake will have $25 grab bags with seasonal clothing for the boutique crawl that people can buy for the gift card drawing. The $100 gift card drawing requires at least $25 spent at each boutique.
“I love to go support small businesses,” Blake said, “and you don’t have to support by buying. Supporting means liking their post, sharing their post or mentioning their name.”
The boutique crawl, Blake said, will help all of the boutiques advertise themselves. She also wants to bring other small businesses into the mix. Galion’s Sweet Bubble and Bean coffee truck will be in front of Bloom’s storefront Saturday.
Find B.E. Humble at:
2268 Stumbo Road in Ontario, north of the Richland Mall.
Facebook: B.E. Humble
Instagram: @b.e.humbleshop
Website: behumblefashion.com
Open hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
ONTARIO — Brittany Humble describes her style as classic and functional.
As the owner of the B.E. Humble boutique and designer for the Home Shopping Network, Humble said she has always liked helping older women shop for what looks good on them.
“People don’t want to look like their high school daughter, but still want to look good,” she said.
She doesn’t carry many “trendy” clothes but if people are looking for those pieces, Humble said she’ll send them to another local boutique.
“I feel like we each have a strong point,” Humble said. “I am definitely the older age bracket. My main clientele is over 40s and 50s on purpose.
“People come in and have pieces from 11 years ago still because I do timeless.”
Of the six boutique crawl hosts, Humble was the first in business. She said she enjoyed her years as the go-to local clothing store but is encouraged by recent growth in local businesses.
“I like to think I helped pave the path for other women to go after their dreams,” she said. “I hope I made this look so easy that others want to step out on faith and do it too.”
Humble said six boutiques co-hosting the boutique crawl is encouraging for the direction of local business collaboration.
“I think it’s awesome that we can work together,” she said.
Humble said she is excited to put together her $25 grab bags and offer giveaways for different spending brackets.
“It’ll be a great event for the community, even if they just want to come check it out,” she said.
Find The Wilder Boutique at:
1303 Park Ave. E. in Madison Township, west of the nearby Sunoco gas station.
Facebook: The Wilder Boutique
Instagram: @thewilderboutique
Website: thewilderboutique.com
Open hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
MADISON TOWNSHIP — Realtors Keaton Partin and Danielle James couldn’t find stylish and functional business wear that felt comfortable for the whole day. Partin said they each wanted to buy clothes they loved and a “passion project” started with holding inventory in their basements.
When Mid-Ohio Investments bought the building at 1303 Park Ave. E., Partin said she thought the space next to the real estate office was perfect for The Wilder Boutique. The boutique opened its in-person sales in June.
“People really like having something on this side of town, so it’s worked out really well so far,” Partin said.
The Wilder Boutique also carries home decor products and kitchen goods in addition to clothing and accessories.
“We try to go business casual and business comfy,” Partin said. “I would say anyone of all ages could find something in here that they like.”
Partin said she was excited to talk about the boutique crawl, especially because most of the participants have just opened their doors in the past few years.
“I just think it’s so cool that we can all come together,” Partin said. “We all have unique things, we all bring our own touch to everything.”
The Wilder Boutique will have prizes and giveaways during the crawl but Partin said she is keeping those secret until the boutique crawl begins.
Find Golden Poppy at:
1084 Lexington Ave. in Mansfield, between Chase Bank and On The Cutting Edge.
Facebook: Golden Poppy
Instagram: @goldenpoppy.shop
Website: goldenpoppyshop.com
Open hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
MANSFIELD — Caitlin Carr’s college break job became a full-time passion and personal business venture in 2021.
She worked at PurseSnickety as a college student and bought the store in 2021. In May 2022, she changed the name to Golden Poppy.
PurseSnickety started in 2006 selling purses, jewelry and gift items. It expanded to clothing a few years later and operated two different storefronts. Golden Poppy operates out of the original PurseSnickety building on Lexington Avenue. Carr added home decor and kids’ toys to PurseSnickety’s clothing and accessories.
“I feel like Golden Poppy is kind of the best mix of what that evolved into,” she said.
Carr said she thinks Golden Poppy’s main audience is young moms and middle-aged working women, though jewelry and gifts generally appeal to all ages.
“We do have a lot of dressier, trendier things that hit those working women who are a little bit more established,” Carr said.
Carr said some of her favorite brands in Golden Poppy are Daze Denim and Bed Stu boots. She changes what the store carries based on new items she finds at clothing vendor markets.
When boutique owners started brainstorming ideas for a boutique crawl, Carr said she was excited to work with other business owners who are mostly new.
“We’re all similar but a little bit different and can offer you different things,” she said.
Golden Poppy will host the Grunt Grub food truck in its parking lot Oct. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Carr said she hopes even more shops and businesses join the crawl next year.
“I think we’ll learn a lot from this year’s experience and see how we can make it even better,” she said.
Find Versa Clothing Company at:
Taylor Haught’s home at 6059 Renie Road in Bellville. Versa Clothing Co. has its own entrance.
Facebook: Versa Clothing Co.
Instagram: @versaclothingco
Website: versaclothingcompany.com
Open hours are announced on the Versa Clothing VIP Facebook group a few weeks in advance. Inventory videos are also posted to the group before Haught adds them to her website.
BELLVILLE — Even though Taylor Haught loved her job as a special education teacher at Clear Fork Middle School, she would cry at the end of school breaks.
“I loved my job, I loved my co-workers and my boss, I just love my kids more,” she said.
Haught has three children under the age of 6. After she quit her teaching job and started a boutique clothing business from her home, she is able to spend more time with her kids.
Haught’s children pretend to shop in the “Versa room” and play in empty inventory boxes. Haught schedules Versa’s open hours around her own family and community events.
“Last year, I was so busy,” Haught said. “This year, I’m trying to scale it back and just do things on my own time. My customers always support that and they can always order online.”
Haught said she mostly shops for what she personally likes for Versa’s inventory. She has tried buying trendy clothes even if she doesn’t like them before but said they don’t sell as well as other items.
Versa Clothing Company specializes in plus-size clothes. Haught estimated 90% of her inventory includes brands that go from sizes small to 3XL. She also carries Judy Blue Jeans up to size 24.
Versa is a one-woman business — Haught orders, ships, packages, organizes and models her inventory. She said sometimes her husband helps package orders and friends help unpack boxes.
Because Haught knows how Versa’s clothes fit her personally, she said some customers can figure out their size in different brands compared to her.
When Haught receives new clothes, she takes short videos of her wearing each piece of clothing in her size and edits those videos together before listing the clothes on her website. She said most of her customers place orders online for local pickup.
Though she’ll be open in-person for the boutique crawl, Haught said people are welcome to place online orders and get their passport stamp in person when they pick up their clothes. She hopes customers learn the names of places they didn’t know about before.
“If we’re all posting about each other, other people are going to see us,” she said. “I know not everybody can find every piece of clothing they want here. I shop other places and I own this place.”
Haught said she has liked befriending other boutique orders while organizing the boutique crawl. As long as customers can find clothes and local businesses they like, Haught said she’ll be happy.
Boutique crawl participants can pick up a passport at any boutique and get stamps for purchases over $25. Visitors can turn in their passport at the last boutique they visit for the $100 gift card drawing entry.
The $20 gift card drawing entry is for people who take a selfie at each boutique and post on their social media with the hashtag #mansfieldboutiquecrawl2022. For more information on gift card drawings, visit the boutique crawl’s Facebook event page.
