It’s 5:30A on a Saturday morning and here I was dreaming about you, my customer, my friend, my supporter, my cheerleader. I was dreaming about you walking into my new store and how I would greet you and the smile on your face from walking in the first time. Seeing a new business open up in a small town that hey, let’s face it has some cute stuff that’s now a lot closer than driving to a bigger city. And I’d greet you by saying, “Hey love, welcome!” So I felt it only fitting to talk to you gals just the same as if you were stopping by. I got excited thinking about it all and popped right out of bed 7 minutes later so here we are now. I wish I could be super cool like all you coffee drinking ladies and say I’m enjoying my warm cup of coffee while writing this message to you but truth is I’m not a coffee fan unless it’s the stuff that’s absolutely filled with all the sugar and syrup and things that make it a 1200 calorie – 8 ounce cup of coffee. It’s only then do I love coffee, which by the way if you’re local, 392 Café has some great cups of deliciousness. Instead I go for a pre-workout drink as my morning caffeine, yet I don’t work out afterwards so I have a whole lot of jittery goodness ready to rub off in these words.
As I approach April 2nd, I get a little nostalgic of our anniversary and why I started the boutique. My daughter, Emery had just turned 3 and my youngest, Levi just turned 1. It was the turn of the year which of course causes everyone to question every area of their life and why they’re not doing something more of what they love. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had an idea for a boutique but the idea festered for a few years more. But after New Years in 2017, the idea came back with a much louder roar in mind of “why not now”. At this time in my life, I was still nursing my son, still toting around a big ole’ diaper bag with all the things and definitely still adjusting to two children who could now cause mischief when we went to a store. So heaven forbid I even think about bringing them to go try on clothes with me because usually it ended up with them trying to escape from underneath the door as if we’re in a bathroom stall again. After all Target doesn’t have a kid’s corner to drop off kids while I go meander the store and try on clothes! Online shopping was the answer to finding cute things in a quick timeframe without the hassle of either finding someone to take the kids or having to be rushed because I had to get back to pick them up.
With two young kids came along a new mom bod that kept changing from the pregnancy bod, to the nursing bod, to the post nursing bod and back again. Which for me was a whole lot of fluctuation and definitely still is now almost 2 years post nursing. I was knocking on 30-years-old and still had some clothes that were from my high school and college days. I had surpassed survival mode clothing and was in need of something that was going to make me actually level up my style for my new life. By day I worked full time in outside sales for a telecom company so I had business professional clothing that I wore for work but my “going out” for either errands or a rare night out with my husband, Travis was dismal. I knew I couldn’t be the only woman with this issue. Queue The Humming Arrow Boutique was born.
We started from the kitchen table and basement of our home but it only took a short two weeks of being operational that I did my first vendor show. It was there I learned how much I loved having face to face interaction with you gals. After doing multiple shows and pop up events that I would carry all the items by hand, my husband surprised me with an enclosed trailer in support of my dream. In one week’s time we converted a bare enclosed trailer to a fully functioning fashion trailer equipped with lights and a changing room. I enjoy being able to serve not only online but in person when ladies want to touch and feel. It was December of 2018 that I was approached by the City of Preston to take The Humming Arrow to the next step for an actual storefront – that doesn’t move on wheels! And I couldn’t be more excited for this next stage. As of now, I’m still planning on attending our large events at the Jackson County Rodeo and R7 Reclaimed Events with the trailer.
We know living in a rural community means traveling a fair amount to get to go try on cute clothes or just having the same items as everyone else from the local stores. It often means hoping your kids will be on good behavior by the time you make it to the store, for you to maybe just find one thing for you but leaving even more frustrated from when you walked out the door because they asked 1112 questions in only 20 minutes. That is why we offer convenient shopping at the touch of your fingers or just down the road. Yes, please still bring those babes and let them play in our playroom so you can enjoy an adult conversation and have a moment to try on not just one but a handful of curated items that we’ve helped advise of their fit to better suit you.
Our NEW store is located at..12 W Gillet ST Preston, IA 52069
Comments will be approved before showing up.