Retailer’s unusual time-saving plan is to open a second store at Normandie Center
Most retailers likely would not find opening a second store to be a time-saving technique, but that’s Mustard Roots Boutique owner Kayla Kelley’s plan.
Mustard Roots is located in the Westlink Shopping Center at Central and Tyler, and Kelley has an online business as well.
“Online, it’s . . . all me,” she said.
The mother of four, plus two foster babies, works during the day and evenings to maintain and grow sales. With a second store, she said, she can hire others to run it.
Saturday, a new Mustard Roots will open in Normandie Center.
Like the Westlink store, this one will sell women’s clothing and accessories.
“All of the things,” is how Kelley put it.
She carries a variety of clothing, including some with what she called bohemian vibes, “just as long as its comfortable.”
Kelley said she also carries sizes 0 to 24.
“We are size inclusive,” she said. “I guess I never realized that people don’t carry all sizes.”
Kelley started her business online and then started doing pop-ups — as many as 15 in a weekend — in people’s homes.
The Wichita native was living in Kingman at the time and decided she needed to return to Wichita since she was here so much.
She said her husband, Joey, works with her “full time and makes my crazy busy dreams a reality.”
Kelley said she’d looked at Normandie previously but was “not really impressed.”
Now that Brent and Kerrie DuPont have purchased the center and are “making it a really awesome area,” she became interested.
“They kind of just sold me on their vision for it.”
The store is opening in a corner spot on the opposite end of the strip center where Il Primo Espresso Caffe is. Though there’s going to be some remodeling going on for a while, Kelley said it was important to her to open before the holidays, and she thinks putting up with construction will be worth it.
“There’s going to be a lot of really cool businesses moving in over there.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 11:00 AM.