![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/MOD-Boutique-feature-story-artwork-12-2013.jpg\")
<\/a>Located at 107 W. Main St., MOD Boutique recently opened its doors for business, offering a wide variety of trendy and hip clothing, as well as one-of-a-kind items for those last-minute holiday shoppers.<\/p>\n
For the past few months, the blinds were drawn as the boutique was prepared for opening day. The store is now stocked full of inventory that can\u2019t be found with a simple trip to the mall, owner Emily Banks said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won\u2019t find all the pieces we have by just going to the mall,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to base a lot of the fashion that I\u2019m bringing to Van Wert on the California and New York styles. I\u2019m trying to update the area in fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n
If early sales are an indication, MOD Boutique has done just that. Initial response from the community has been overwhelming and Banks is grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support she\u2019s received during the store\u2019s opening.<\/p>\n
Well-wishers have offered their support on social media and Main Street Van Wert has been instrumental throughout the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has just been wonderful, and all the downtown businesses have helped me spread the word,\u201d Banks said, adding that she recently unveiled the store\u2019s new Facebook page.<\/p>\n
While the boutique offers a variety of items, Banks said one of her more popular items is high-quality denim typically only found in larger cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe offer the LA Idol denim, which is the same designer as the Miss Me line, and we have the Flying Monkey denim as well, so I\u2019m really trying to bring high-quality denim to a smaller area,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
Additionally, MOD Boutique is offering Capri Blue candles, a brand also sold at the wildly popular store Anthropologie.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to offer modern and unique items that are up-to-date and on trend, but are also one-of-a-kind unique pieces that you can\u2019t go to your normal retail department store to find,\u201d Banks said, adding that she designed the boutique with inspiration from Pinterest and Etsy. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice mix of antique but with modern flair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opening the boutique feels like coming full circle for Banks, who has always been interested in, and stayed up to date with, fashion trends.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was always really big on YouTube videos and kept up on beauty and fashion,\u201d she said. \u201cI would spend all my free time at the mall just to make sure I was up on the latest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banks enjoys a career as a human resources coordinator, but she said opening the boutique has always been a dream of hers. \u201cIt\u2019s my interest and it\u2019s always something I wanted to do,\u201d she said, adding that she has always enjoyed working with people.<\/p>\n
That dream became a reality when a building on West Main Street opened up and Banks began seriously considering opening a boutique. Going into it, she said she erred on the side of \u201cstart small, and think big.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly didn\u2019t know what to expect for opening day, so when I did my first order, I was cautious on purchasing a lot of products at once because I didn\u2019t know how good it was going to go,\u201d Banks said, admitting \u201cI was really nervous about that. So I started out small and got the traffic in and went from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banks said she would wait until after the holidays to begin measuring sales flow patterns. \u201cThat\u2019s when I\u2019ll really be able to see how much I\u2019m selling,\u201d she explained. \u201cOnce it slows down a bit in January, I\u2019ll be able to tell when I get most of my foot traffic in, and what my true sales are going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although she\u2019s had her share of bumps and bruises in opening the new boutique, Banks is looking forward to a long and successful run in downtown Van Wert.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest obstacle we\u2019ve had to face is getting our products restocked in a timely manner, but a lot of that has been the weather and the holiday season,\u201d Banks said. \u201cBut things are settling down and we have new arrivals coming in every week and I\u2019m really hoping people stop in to see what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boutique will remain open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday of this week to give people time to pick up that last-minute gift.<\/p>\n
For more information, visit the MOD Boutique Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CINDY WOOD\/independent feature writer Downtown Van Wert has a new resident. Located at 107 W. Main St., MOD Boutique recently opened its doors for business, offering a wide variety of trendy and hip clothing, as well as one-of-a-kind items for those last-minute holiday shoppers. For the past few months, the blinds were drawn as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-27 07:45:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46795\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}