Little Boutique Consignment Store Reopens With More To Offer

Chrystal Murray opened the Little Boutique Consignment Store last spring, with a few purposes in mind. One was to provide curated clothing, catering mostly to teen-aged and adult women, and to provide a better home for quality clothes that were purchased for one use or were purchased by mistake and were just sitting in closets, not being worn.

Another was to I offer offer income opportunities to locals in the area , by paying 50/50 for consignment, to the benefit of those who are selling off items they can no longer use.

"Also I wanted to provide a much needed clothing store for high quality clothing at affordable prices," she said, in an interview this week. 

Another intention was to make connections between women and the local business community in order to support everyone, in what can be a diverse, disconnected community. In addition to opening the Little Boutique, Chrystal started putting together a local business directory, which she printed up and handed out for free. She also started a women’s business group last summer.

It is all part of the way she approaches business, and community.

She moved to her house in Cloyne with her husband and children, and has continued to run her successful cleaning business, Chrystal Clean, which is based in the Durham Region.

The Little Boutique is located right on her property, which keeps her overhead low, and she is able to run it herself.

What she found last year was that the late spring and summer were very strong for the Little Boutique, but the fall and winter seasons have been slower, a common reality faced by businesses in the region.

She decided to make some changes in order to bring more people in, during the off-season as well as the stronger summer months, and to also provide an opportunity for other businesses, who face the same seasonal challenges that she does.

She closed the store after Christmas, and has spent January and February renovating and reorganising the space, in order to create display shelves to sell the work of local creators.

At the grand re-opening of the Little Boutique last Saturday (February 28), the work of 21 local vendors was on display, in addition to all of the consignment items in the store.

"I want to provide an opportunity for businesses to collaborate, support and work together to help each other grow, and offer the boutique as a “small business hub/ gift shop” in town where you can support local in one location."

The wide range of local products on display is a great expansion of the potential client base for the boutique, since it includes local food and household product producers, and more.

Here is a partial list of vendors.: Goodwins Greetings, Artisan Torchworked Bead and Accessories, A Spice Affair, Hil’s Things, Cozy Daisy Creations, Worthy Suds, Vi’s Signs & Clocks, Bead Envy Bracelets, Breis Custom Apparel, Wild Crafted Tallow, Wonder of the Woods, Scentsy, Norwex, Crisp & Citus Co, Queen Bee Candles, Custom pens & keychains, Sweet Wilderness maple products, Sarah’s preserves, Kenwillyn Farm preserves, and Organic Farm Eggs.

The Little Boutique is now the place to go to for a wide range of vendor products that would make amazing gifts for all occasions

And starting in May, local baking will be available as well.

At the open house, which was very well attended, Chrystal was heartened by the reception to the new direction of the store.

“People were able to shop for a number of needs, not just clothing, and that was my goal, to expand the reach of the store into other community needs,” Chrystal said.

The vendors pay a very reasonable shelf fee, and Chrystal handles all the sales and has familiarised herself with the products, in order to do that. She is also committed to encouraging customers to contact the vendors directly, in order to build up the business community as a whole.

The Little Boutique’s spring hours are Monday to Thursday, 11am-4pm, and weekends by appointment. The store is located at 22 Spencer Street in Cloyne, and can be contacted through Facebook or by email - [email protected]