Sunday Spotlight with Ivie Rose Boutique

Sunday Spotlight with Ivie Rose

By:  Lauren Francis-Jackson

 

 Sunday Spotlight features business owners, bloggers, natural divas, beauty companies, and more asthey share their story with The Sisterlocked Diva family!  Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tiffany Brown, who is co-owner of the Ivie Rose Boutique.  Ivie Rose Boutique was started in August 2012 as an online boutique by two sisters, Sherra and Tiffany Brown.  Recently, they acquired a physical store in Laurel, Maryland to cater to their customers in the DC area.  Read below about my interview with Tiffany about fashion and the uprising of Ivie Rose Boutique:

 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Hello Tiffany!  Thanks for chatting with me about your business! Tell me about how Ivie Rose Boutique got started.

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  We began with the concept of the boutique in July 2012.  My sister, co owner Sherra Brown, and I have always been into fashion.  She always wanted to open up her own boutique.  We opened as an online boutique since August 2012.  In October 2012, we opened a physical store in Laurel, MD inside of Finder's Keepers (389 Main Street, Laurel, MD) due to demand from our customer base in the DC area.  The name Ivie Rose has significance to our family and to my sister personally.  Ivie was our maternal grandmother, and Rose is our paternal aunt.  Ivie Rose is a name that Sherra wants to name her first child in the future. 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  That's a great way that you are paying tribute to your family in naming the boutique.  Did you have interest in fashion as a young child or teenager? What inspired you about fashion?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  Yes, especially Sherra!  I love fashion, however Sherra’s passion for fashion is bigger.  I loved fashions that I would see in the fashion magazines.  Our mom has 8 sisters, and they all are fashionable women.  They do not walk out the house looking nothing but fashionable.  I like to dress edgy yet classy at the same time.  It is family affair!  Sherra can easily put outfits together; she has a knack for it. 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Being in your business with your sister must be fun! How do you balance the personal sisterhood and being business partners?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique: I am always around my sister—we sometimes butt heads.  We are like any other two sisters-- we have our ups and downs, but overall we work well together! We do have disagreements, but we just work through it.  We truly are best friends—we try not to push each other buttons.

The Sisterlocked Diva:  That is great that you can work side by side in business, and can seperate that from your sisterhood.  What items do you sell at Ivie Rose Boutique?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  We sell a variety of items including dress, shorts, t-shirts, tops, skirts, accessories (e.g., sunglasses, purses, jewelry), blazers, and leggings.  We carry more casual items that are bold fashion pieces for the trendy young diva! 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  I like that your bold patterns!  Why did you make the move from an online boutique to an actual store front? Was it always the end goal? 

 

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  We had to build our clientele to build the online presence to have demand for a store.  Once we built the clientele, we kept getting the question—do you have a physical store?  So that's when we knew it was time to open a physical store.  We are in a location that does not have a lot of "foot traffic" so we try to promote on social media and do mixers to bring clientele to our store. 

The Sisterlocked Diva: How do you feel about online shopping from smaller stores?

Tiffany Brown, Ivue Rose Boutique:  It can be a gamble—you don’t know if you could get scammed!  I have a friend who refuses to buy offline.  I think it depends on the reputation of the company, however I do feel more comfortable when it is a more reputable store. 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Yeah, I think I have been lucky from most vendors that I have purchased from smaller shops. The shop is open mainly on the weekends. Do you plan to expand to week day hours?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  Yes, we do in the future like in the summer time.  We both have full time jobs, and have 2 interns.  Right now, we have two interns however they are in college and attend class.  Most professionals do not want to go shopping after work. They want to go home and relax!  The professional woman wants to shop on the weekend whe she has more time. The weekend is the time to get the outfit.

 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  How do you balance working fulltime and being boutique owners?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  Sherra works during the day, but her full time job is flexible.  We work the boutique whenever we can— we communicate daily to discuss planning and executing events, inventory, or whatever needs to be discussed relating to the business. 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  As a blogger, I can relate.  I post status updates, blog, and make videos when I have time!  What sets Ivie Rose apart from other boutiques?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  Our clothes are bold, trendy, and very fashionable!  Since we love what we do, it shows!  When someone is in it for the money, you have no real passion for what you’re doing.  Passion is what is needed in order to suceed! 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Nice!  I heard your boutique has been nominated for a few fashion awards. What awards have you been nominated for or won?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  We have been nominated for the Maryland Fashion Awards—it is for emerging clothing boutiques.  The award will be awarded in Summer 2013.

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Hope you guys win the final award!  Most of the clothes I have seen have been more casual fashion trends. Do you forsee expanding your selection to professional or formal wear?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  Yes, we will probably go in that direction in the future.  Our current focus is casual wear.

The Sisterlocked Diva:  What projects are Ivie Rose Boutique looking forward to in 2013?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  We want to continue to branch out our business!  We have some new projects that we are pursuing including partnerships and our monthly mixers. 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Yes!  I have seen the advertisement for the mixers!  What are the mixer concepts?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  Every month, we will have bloggers and business people come out to speak on a variety of topics—love and relationships, hair, etc.  We are also working on sip and shops, personal shopping/image consulting, and hosting spa parties.

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Nice!  I am looking forward to coming out to speak about natural hair in April!  Are there any big name plus size stores you would like to partner with in the future?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  There are a few stores that we would love to work with, and we are working toward partnering with these stores. 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  Who are some of your favorite style icons?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  My favorite fashion icons are Dorthy Danridge, Diana Ross, Diane Carole, Rihanna, my family, Audrey Hepburn, and Solange. 

The Sisterlocked Diva:  I like the mix of new and old school fashions!  What are some of your favorite fashion trends for 2013?

Tiffany Brown, Ivie Rose Boutique:  I love black and white and print!  Black and white works anytime of the year.  I like retro pieces f rom the 50s and 60s and leopard print.  Big bold colors like orange and blue are in for Spring. 

 

Thank you Sherra & Tiffany for sharing with me about Ivie Rose Boutique!

 

 

~The Sisterlocked Diva