My dream to open a boutique is born

My name is Laurie Bennett and I discovered my love for fashion when I was just 8 years old.

Photo of author

It was the summer of 1974 and I went to visit my Aunt Mary in Bullhead City, AZ, where she had settled to open a boutique called, "Kelly's Mates and Maties".

Upon my arrival, Aunt Mary put me to work in her clothing store. I swept floors, cleaned out dressing rooms, hung, tagged and folded garments and searched for sizes for customers.

Now any other kid my age might have thought of this as torture but I loved every minute of it. One thing I know for sure is that summer changed my life forever. I left Arizona and returned home to California knowing my true calling was to one day open a boutique of my very own.

With my goal to open a clothing store in mind, in my teens I worked retail for Nordstrom's. JW Robinson's (now Robinson's May) and Contempo Casuals. I wanted to learn as much about retail as I possibly could.

I wanted to know what the successful retailers were doing right and what they were doing wrong. I wanted to know what I was doing when opening my own boutique.

In college, I attended the University of Southern California where I majored in business entrepreneurship. While at USC, one of the most significant moments of my life occurred. In my entrepreneur courses we had successful guest speakers come frequently come to lecture.

Marcia Israel-Curley- founder of Judy's chain of boutiques

One fine Thursday afternoon our guest speaker was Ms. Marcia Israel-Curley, founder of the highly successful young women's fashion stores called Judy's.

Marcia had opened her first boutique in 1943. She told me great stories about her retail business. Probably my favorite was the one about why she called her store Judy's and not Marcia's.

She said when she was getting started she had very little money. So, her first store was small, only 7' wide and 12' deep. She had room for only 5 letters on the sign and the name “Judy” was popular due to Judy Garland.

So, she called her store Judy's. She built that store into a chain of 104 stores. She certainly had all the professionalism necessary to show me how to succeed.

She generously offered to become my mentor and helped me in many ways as I was putting my own business plan together for my own boutique.

I regret to say that Ms. Israel-Curley passed away in 2005 and I know this world will miss her very much. One wonderful thing Marcia did was put together a book of her memoirs entitled, Defying the Odds. I recommend that all aspiring store owners read this book as a part of due diligence in opening your own boutique.

So there I was, I had just graduated from USC with a degree in Business Entrepreneurship. I had 7+ years of retail experience under my belt and the best mentor imaginable at my side. I was ready to go.

Now read the next part of my story: I open a boutique of my own! >>>

Jewelry		Lingerie
Apparel		Handbag
Bridal		Wedding
Maternity		Kid’s Wear
Shoe		Sports Wear
Sneakers		Gifts
Children's clothing		Clothing store
or whatever type of retail store you can dream up

cards type

Dear Laurie

I'm usually skeptical about ordering things like this but your information has helped me so much. I'm so glad I took a chance with your how to open a boutique book !

Theresa S

more >>>

Hi Laurie!!

"I got your workbook about six months ago and am nearly ready to open my own store. I wanted to send you a big thank you for writing the book as I probably never would have actually started the process if I had not found your book as a guide.."

Joannah H, Austin, TX

more >>>

Use the Support Forum

Ask questions & get answers from the author. Free on-going support & advice as to how to open and run your business.

Business Support Forum >>>

Tell your friends about this site

Click here to send an email >>>