Clothing Boutique offering clothing and encouragement to women of all ages!
Located at 203 S Main St, Suite A, Antwerp, OH:
More Than Boutique offers unique boutique style clothing and other self-care and gift items. This is a place where women, friends, mothers and daughters would be able to come and be accepted. Be more than their past, their size, their title, their choices. It is a place where you can be more than your current situation or time.
The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce spotlight for January is More Than Boutique, located in downtown Antwerp, Ohio.
The owners of this quaint little boutique that resides just across from the H2O Water Store is Summer Allen and Dana Garmater. These two have been lifelong friends and they share a love of fashion. Starting a boutique has been a dream of both of them for years and last year they were able to start their business in the Antwerp community.
They love the community and wanted a place where women, friends, mothers and daughters would be able to come and feel accepted. The boutique represents a place where women can share moments together. Regardless of your past, size, title or choices you have made, More Than Boutique is a place that will remind you that you are more than your situation or the time that you are in right now.
Clothing boutiques have been around for a long time. More and more boutiques are opening up in small towns and providing a more local feel than the big box stores and they also have the opportunity to foster an environment of closeness. The boutique offers clothing, accessories, home décor and small gifts. The staff loves to support other small businesses and they have several local vendors featured in their shop.
Summer and Dana hope that their friendship and encouragement will be what most people will remember from visiting their boutique. They realize they cannot offer everything to everybody but they do want to offer as much style variety and sizes as possible. They offer a place where they too can shop with their daughters, who have all different styles and body sizes. Their focus is an atmosphere where everyone can feel confident and enjoy themselves.
The more the staff has gotten to know the women in the community, the more they find themselves getting glimpses into the lives of the ladies that come into the boutique. The connection when they see a familiar face, get to meet and hear about grandchildren, hear about newly engaged couples and hear about kids’ sporting events helps to build these connections. Occasionally a husband will stop in and ask for help to shop for his wife. These connections are extremely important and they love the relationships they are building.
What keeps customers coming back to the boutique? Well, they hope that you come back not only because you enjoy what product is offered in the store but also that you enjoyed the experience of having a place to shop with close friends. Maybe it was a quiet break for a young mom or even a place a grandma can bring their grandchildren to share a moment. While they enjoy serving the ladies in the community they also offer online shopping via Facebook and soon they will have that option on their website.
One funny anecdote about the businesses was when Dana realized that she was road tripping with a car full of undressed mannequins and imagining what that looked like rolling down the highway. Dana is most proud of the compromising relationship that she and Summer have, learning to build on both of their strengths and also being able to teach her girls about hard work and commitment and what it takes to make a dream come true. Summer is most proud of how she and Dana have grown as friends over this adventure. They are really able to succeed and grow in strength and confidence from learning from each other. There have also seen so many times women will just stop in to chat with a friends and that is what makes them smile, knowing they are offering them this moment.
When a customer walks into the boutique they can expect to feel welcomed and valued and to leave encouraged. They also want you to know that they are truly thankful for your presence in their store. What makes the business unique is that Dana and Summer run the business along with their teenage daughters and love that they are able to teach them through this experience. “We are who we are. You get the real us when you come in.” states Summer. “All of the different personalities make the boutique unique. They do not put on a front, you get our true selves”. Dana adds, “We want to be real! This is who we are, no filters, you get mistakes and all. We hope to inspire others to be real too!”
Passion for the business is evident when you walk in the boutique. Dana is most passionate about adding wholesale clothing to her “cart” and then spending way too much time narrowing it down when it is time to actually put in an order. Summer pretty much loves all fashion things. She is passionate about this entire adventure. One little known secret about the business is that dressing and undressing the mannequins is not an easy job and it probably looks as awkward as it feels.
A few tips to help improve your experience include taking a break for yourself, come in and just browse. If you need some girl time, reach out to a friend and spend some quality time together at the boutique. Also, don’t be afraid to ask them for help or for their opinion. They want you to feel confident in the outfit that you chose and want you to feel recharged as you leave the boutique.
Summer and Dana would also like to thank the two amazing men in their lives that have supported them along the way. They are often the safety bar to this roller coaster of a ride.
The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce is excited to partner with More Than Boutique in the growth of Antwerp and the surrounding community.
Incorporated in 1995, the Northern Ohio Area Chambers of Commerce (NOACC) was established to provide tangible benefits of chamber membership to local businesses. NOACC has now grown to over 125 chambers of commerce–some volunteer managed, some county-wide in scope–and some of the NOACC chambers have grown ten-fold with the adoption of these benefits. Our partnership with the NOACC will help our businesses to obtain benefits and resources that otherwise would be difficult for them to obtain on their own. https://noacc.org
Antwerp Chamber of Commerce Spotlight for July is Jennifer Ankney and the Sam Switzer Realty in Hicksville, Ohio
Jennifer Ankney is the newest Full Time Realtor in Sam Switzer Realty’s Hicksville Office. She comes to real estate with a passion and excitement for helping people buy and sell their homes to start their next big life adventures! She works in the NW Ohio region (Hicksville, Antwerp, Payne, Edgerton, Sherwood, Cecil, Defiance, Edon and beyond), but also has an awesome network of Realtors in NE Indiana to refer to as well if that is where the next stage of your life is taking you.
Jennifer is a graduate of Hicksville High School and was born and raised in this area. She lives in Hicksville with her husband Paul, who also graduated with her Class of 2000. She has two sons and has been active in both the little league program as well as the Huber Opera House since returning to this area in 2017. In summertime, you’ll find her working hard for her clients, in her garden, at the baseball field, or you might even find her performing at various coffee shops and wineries with a high school classmate from time to time.
After almost a year in the business, Jennifer has brought 18 complete transactions to a successful close and helped dozens of people into their new homes! After just nine months, she qualified for the President’s Sales Club award by selling over $1 million worth of real estate. With an excellent attention to detail, she is friendly and helpful, very organized and on top of all situations. Clients have given her an average of 4.9/5 stars on RateMyAgent after completed transactions. When you hire her to work as your agent, you can expect professionalism and hard work that extends beyond the normal 9-5 business hours.
The market can be scary and difficult to navigate right now, and there’s no better help than an outstanding and knowledgeable agent. Jennifer can help you navigate inspections, appraisals, different types of financing, zoning, and title issues as well as connect you with excellent and respected professionals in other areas of this industry. Building? No problem! If you’re thinking about selling, the first step is to give Jennifer a call, and she will come out and suggest a list price for your home by researching comparable sales in the area. If you’re buying, and you need a dedicated agent who will negotiate the best deal for you and help you navigate through the process, Jennifer is your girl. One thing she wishes buyers knew is that we can show you any property in the state of Ohio, even if it’s not listed by our office.
Give Jennifer a call today at 208-596-9245 or stop by the Hicksville office and see her, and she will get you started and answer all your questions. She can’t wait for YOU to be the next buyer or seller and she is excited to help you along in realizing your dreams.
The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce is excited to partner with Jennifer and Sam Switzer Realty for the growth of Antwerp and the surrounding communities.
