Kelly Thompson, owner and operator of the Shop Salon & Style House, 3735 Grand Blvd., is expanding her bimonthly pop-up fashion boutique into an every-weekend affair with a spot at the Brookfield Shops retail incubator program.
Thompson and her mother-in-law, Kelly Stevens, opened the salon side of the business in 2019, and they launched the Style House side with a pop-up event inside the brick-and-mortar store in December.
“We’re limited [due] to space and [to] Sundays,” Stevens said in a joint interview with the Landmark. They had run the pop-up at the Yorktown Center in Lombard, “but it’s hard to compete with your T.J. Maxx.”
Despite the logistical limits, they said they found a growing customer base with their fashionable wares.
“When we started our first few pop-ups, we didn’t have our own clothing line. We just opened it up to other vendors in a way to network and bring in traffic for the hair salon,” Stevens said. “As we were launching, we were like, ‘You know what? Why don’t we buy a few pieces of clothing. Let’s just throw it out there and see how it goes.’ And it turned out to be really successful.”
Along with Thompson’s 9-year-old daughter, Mia, the family said they curate a selection of clothes so women of all ages can feel and look their best.
“Mia is our biggest critic. She’ll say, ‘Yeah, yeah. Are you crazy? You can’t wear that,’” Stevens said. “Especially women of my age, what we find is, OK, yes, we are mature, but we still want to dress fashion-forward.”
Thompson said the Brookfield Shops location, which will open Fridays through Sundays starting June 6 through December, will sell accessories like jewelry and hats — “Things that make up an outfit,” she said — alongside their line of clothing.
Stevens said Brookfield staff first approached Thompson to be a member of the retail incubator’s selection jury, which heard pitches from about 20 potential vendors and narrowed them down to six. Instead, Thompson told them she was interested in applying for one of the spaces, and the self-titled “three gems” went before the jury themselves.
When they were told they had been selected, the women said they were excited but scared.
“Oh shoot, this is really happening! Now we have to start figuring it all out,” Stevens said.
Thompson said she’s still been learning as the vendors have gone through preparatory work with the village since the cohort was announced in March.
“I know how to open the salon, but the boutique is a little bit different,” she said. “It’s not my first time opening a business, but it’s just a different venture, and it’s [Brookfield’s] first time, too, so I think we’re kind of leaning on each other.”
Stevens, who owns the brick-and-mortar space the salon operates out of, said the dynamic as renters has been a new experience.
“Brookfield has been so supportive and amazing in offering so many different incentives,” she said. “It’s different. We are moving into their space. We’re in this space, [but] this was ours, so now we’re leasing from them. Like she said, opening up a boutique, there’s so much that you don’t think about. … Like the hangers. I never looked at so many hangers in my life!”
Thompson said trying to fit a dressing room into the 225 square foot space — 15 feet by 15 feet — has been one of the biggest challenges so far.
“Actually picking out the clothing is the least. We love to shop. It’s second nature to us,” Stevens said. “It’s everything else that you don’t realize that needs to be figured out.”
Thompson said she’s relied on the Brookfield business community to help make the opportunity work. Employees from Prairie Path Vintage Market, across the street from the salon, will staff the shed on weekends so she can continue to run the salon herself.
Ultimately, she said, the goal is to be known as the place for fashion in Brookfield and connect with the community in another way than doing hair.
“[I’m] really hoping that we could be their spot. Like, if we need something to wear for the weekend, let me shoot over there. Being that for [the town], where they can find confidence in the clothing we provide, that’s an amazing feeling,” she said.
