Bungalow Boutique hopes to bring some happiness to downtown Stewartville
May 10—STEWARTVILLE, Minn. — Bungalow Boutiques is opening soon in Stewartville and hopes to bring some color and happiness to the downtown area.
Becca Haugen is a photographer by trade but recently decided to try out a new career path. She has never been in retail, but after doing brand photography for local makers and businesses, she had the idea to open up a store. The store is opening its doors on Saturday, May 11, 2024.
When opening her store, Haugen knew she wanted to include some of the local makers in the area. She had done some branding photography for some local small businesses and crafters and knew they did amazing work and kept a list in the back of her mind. Now that she has this boutique, it's a great way to feature these businesses she's worked with previously and form a new bond with them.
"I knew Meadow and Mae (a local clay jewelry business) (and) absolutely knew I wanted to work with her. She's amazing," Haugen said. "Jen Finch makes mugs and I reached out to her immediately because her work was beautiful. She was a nurse in the emergency department and then laughed and she makes them now but like as far as clothing Yes, that was so hard because it wasn't something I was really planning on bringing in and then I love to shop and I think clothing is an expression of who you are. So it's really fun, but it's really hard not to get everything."
Figuring out what to bring in for inventory has been an exciting experience for Haugen and her three little girls. The store carries up to a 3XL in sizing and a variety of styles and colors. Haugen's hope is that anyone can find something in her boutique. Her daughters are interested in helping pick out items they like and were in charge of picking out all the children's clothing in the store.
"I want to maintain the joyful energy here and I just want it to be real," Haugen said. "I want it to be funky and I want to have funky stuff that you can't find everywhere. I want to embrace the creative community because we have such a good creative community around here that I think it would be so fun to be able to do so. We have other great shops that you can go into and get local stuff."
The boutique has become a family project. Haugen's husband helped her transform the location they had owned for two years from Haugen's photography studio into the storefront.
Her husband built and installed the racks while she and her daughters worked on brightening up the space.
"We just decided to do this, just added some racks and it's pretty easy. We are really lucky with this," Haugen said.
In addition to the fun colors and decor, Haugen and her family wanted a name that reflected a fun place to visit.
"We were just kind of throwing names out there and I think one of my daughters suggested Bungalow," Haugen said. "We were trying to think of just funky names because we want it to be just like a funky place that you're just like let's go with Bungalow and it was just a really fun name."
Since it was a studio, Haugen knew she had to bring in some fun decor to decorate the space. She loves the amount of natural lighting the store has. She wants the bright colors to speak for itself and bring everyone who wants in some happiness.
"I lived in a different town for a year and I just didn't know a lot of people but there was a little boutique there," said Haugen. "I made good friends with the people who work there and the owner. I know there's a lot of people who are just moving here, so I just want it to be like a really fun place where even if you don't feel like shopping like coming in and like having a coffee and just hanging out because you're like happy habits."
