2nd annual boutique crawl includes 5 Richland County shops

MANSFIELD — Richland County’s boutiques are welcoming their fall fashion inventory just in time for the second annual boutique crawl.

Five local women-owned boutiques are partnering again for an event the group introduced last year.

The participating vendors include Olive & Oak Company, Bloom Boutique, B.E. Humble, Golden Poppy and Versa Clothing Company.

Amy Klupp, co-owner of Olive & Oak, said the owners are also involving other local businesses in prize drawings this year for crawl participants who buy at least $25 worth of merchandise at each of the boutiques.

“We did learn that asking people to take a selfie for the additional drawing last year was more difficult than we thought it would be,” Klupp said.

“We couldn’t enter everyone who had posted the selfies if they had their post set to private, so we’re not going to do that this year, but we still have lots of drawings people can win thanks to all of our sponsors.”

All boutiques will be open the same hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 6 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 7.

Crawl includes additional evening hours

Versa Clothing, which Taylor Haught runs in her Bellville home, will park a trailer in Olive & Oak’s lot on Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m.

“That way, customers don’t have to drive all the way to Bellville if they don’t want to,” Haught said.

Versa is located at 6059 Renie Road in Bellville, with its own entrance at the back of the Haughts’ home. The store will operate at the Haughts’ home on Friday and at the Bellville Street Mart in downtown Bellville on Saturday. The street mart hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“I’ll have my stamp and the passports each day even though I’ll be in different places,” Haught said.

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 $500 gift card grand prize drawing and other prizes.

“It’s really exciting working together and getting other businesses involved this year too,” Haught said. “I was texting other business owners and they immediately said yes.”

Klupp said the boutique owners decided to add evening shopping hours for Thursday this year to give participants an opportunity to shop after work.

“If you work Thursday and Friday, it’s a lot to ask to go to five stores in a day on Saturday, and we want people to be able to take their time,” she said. “We’re actually adding a second register here at Olive & Oak for those days so people don’t have to wait as long in line.”

Online orders placed the days of the boutique crawl are also eligible for passport stamps. Customers must pick up their orders in-person within a week after the crawl ends.

Drawing includes six chances at prizes

Klupp noted gift card purchases count for the passport stamps if shoppers can’t find anything they want to buy but still want a chance at the prize drawings.

Most of the boutiques also have home decor items, jewelry or other gifts in addition to clothes.

“I think everyone has ordered more inventory to prepare, because it was so successful last year that we ran out of some stuff,” Klupp said. “We’ll have a $25 rack here and I think some of the other stores will have sales and specials, too.”

Klupp said she is open to inviting more boutiques and businesses next year if the other owners agree.

“At this point, I think the major decisions need to be made as a group,” she said. “But we’re open to anything. This whole idea stemmed from a customer in the first place.

“We’re having fun with it and it’s nice to get together and support each other. Hopefully it just keeps growing.”

More information about the crawl can be found on the Facebook event page.

The prize drawing will be a week after the crawl ends. The grand prize winner will receive a $100 gift card to each of the five participating boutiques for a $500 value.

Other prize packages include:

1st runner up

Uncommon Nostalgia- $100 gift card
Nickel and Bean- gift card, mug & apparel ($100 value)
Forever Welded- 20% off any purchase

2nd runner up

Wishmaker House- free one-night stay
Barrington Cafe- fall cup & $20 gift card
Aroma & Glow- one candle ($25 value)

3rd runner up

Exithis Challenge & Escape Rooms- four passes
Nourish Wellness Bar- 1 electrolyte drink & 25 minutes in sauna
Rustik Market- one pound of Smith House Blend coffee, a Raising Roots hat, coffee mug and magnet
Swavory- popcorn basket

4th runner up