By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Adding to the already unique atmosphere of shopping in downtown Hays, a new boutique, offering personalized style and innovation, open last weekend to add a stylish twist.
Lilly and Marie, 113 W. 11th, is the brainchild of local Carol Rome, an owner with years of experience in retail and a passion to enhance downtown Hays.
“I’m excited to be down here. A Chestnut Street District historical building is amazing,” Rome said. “I’m born and raised here, so this is very nostalgic for me.”
Snuggled in between two specialty shops, the location features women’s clothing at a reasonable price point.
“You don’t always necessarily dress like your teenage daughter. You don’t really want to dress like your mom,” Rome said. “It’s a good fit for women of every age. Something that is age-appropriate, that’s still fun, that’s a city trend, that you can where anywhere and feel comfortable, confident and pretty.”
From its location in the middle of northwest Kansas, the store carries clothing from the most fashion-forward areas of the country, with most of the shop’s lines coming from New York or Los Angeles.
“We’ve all got a little bit of something different. … Whatever shape, size, style, we’ve got something for you down here on The Bricks,” Rome said.
Even before the grand opening last Friday, the community has already been supportive of the shop, with many people helping to get the shop up and running in only two weeks and others just popping in to look around.
“I’m excited to have them come down and get their input and see what they think about the product and the store,” Rome said. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of support from the community.”
The shop originated online and continues to operate in cyberspace, but a brick-and-mortar location for customer interaction was important to Rome.
“In a small town, people want to come in, they want to touch the product, they want to feel it, they want to try it one and they like the one-on-one,” she said. “It’s so special for me, to have people share a little bit about their life.”
The store is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and will have Sunday hours 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays through December.
For more on the store visit their online shop here or visit their facebook page here.