Sharon Carmichael said she has loved visiting boutiques since she was a child. Her one regret was that several of them had overpriced clothing and did not have enough sizes, so she decided to open her own boutique, Vivid Vibes Boutique, in the J.C. Electric Building on State Route 88.
“We are doing well so far and there are locals supporting us and we have regulars already and we have only been open for six weeks,” she told The Weekly Villager. “It was a dream to open my own business. It’s very special to me because both my parents are business owners and I wanted to have my own business someday.”
According to the Garfield alum, one of the reasons she enjoyed visiting boutiques compared to outlet malls was because they offered items that could not be found in everyday stores.
Recently however, Carmichael acknowledged she became disillusioned at the limited options, including the lack of range in clothing sizes.
“Some boutiques did not carry my size and I had just a lot of weight and I felt uncomfortable going into boutiques because it was extra small clothing and I just could not fit in them,” she added. “A lot of my friends could not fit in those clothes either.”
Carmichael was inspired to open her own boutique which would offer all sizes and more options for shoppers. It took some time for her to get her business off the ground, spending two years selling jewelry pieces from wholesalers to save enough money before she could start building her own business.
Having already sold jewelry in a small room at her husband Jason’s place of business in Garrettsville, Carmichael knocked down a wall to make more room for the merchandise and redid a couple of offices, transforming them into dressing rooms for customers.
Carmichael acknowledged she has not let a single inch of space go to waste.
“We used the space well.,” noted manager Kim Reeder. “Especially when you want to be showing off the things we have to offer. We do not want it too overwhelming, where actually you cannot pay attention to what you are looking at, but we also want to catch people’s eyes with what we do have.”
Reeder added that she and Carmichael wanted to create a homey atmosphere in the boutique for all customers and believe they have done so by offering them a place to sit on a couch in the store and also serve coffee.
Carmichael said she then contacted multiple independent designers who were either still studying in Fashion School or had just graduated and reached agreements to sell their merchandise in her boutique.
“This is a women-owned business and most of all of the clothing is from independent women hoping to make it,” she said.
The options in the Vivid Vibe Boutique are endless, offering clothing for toddlers, teens and the older generation. Carmichael added that she has strived to make sure the Vivid Vibes Boutique sells clothing for almost every different event imaginable.
“We are really happy with what we have gotten in,” Carmichael said. “All of our fabric is outstanding, really soft and comfortable and our jeans are very stretch. They are not your typical denim that is stiff when you are sitting.”
In addition to a variety of options, the business is constantly adapting by receiving new merchandise every Thursday.
Carmichael said the next step for the business will involve her working with fashion designers from New York to design her own brand of clothing.
“They will teach us how to make unique pieces out of clothing,” she said. “You cannot really technically make a shirt from scratch, but you can buy a plain shirt and completely re-do it whether you are using different fabrics, gem, pearls and things like that.”
“I’m really looking forward to it and looking forward to building lots of customers,” Carmichael said. “I want customers to come in and feel comfortable and we are already getting regulars and I want to make sure we have a lot of regulars coming in.”
