The Story of DART Boutique - Ch.1

Chapter 1: Rummage Sales

It all began with a rummage sale, or rather, a series of rummage sales.  In 2016 I was a stay-at-home Mom and part-time entrepreneur, working on all sorts of side hustles and business ideas.  My kids were starting to outgrow their clothing and toys so I thought it was a good time to try having my first rummage sale.  I didn’t know what to expect but I enjoyed chatting with people who came to visit my sale and I had decent success at selling our household items that we no longer needed.

The next year rolled around and I wanted to try the rummage sale again.  I had a better grasp on how to organize my garage, how to advertise my sale, and how to price items.  I had a very successful second rummage sale.  I was riding the high of enjoying the entire experience. My husband at the time thought I should start a business selling products to customers–much like a rummage sale but with new items.  

I was already an entrepreneur with a service business called Dolby Artistry, LLC.  I was familiar with the steps to starting a business, processing sales/use tax and financial reports, and designing logos and marketing. I also have a business degree. So, naturally I didn’t hesitate to jump into a new venture.

[Side note:] if you are curious to know what my businesses were before DART, I was a photographer for 5 years under the name Dolby Photography, did photobooth wedding rentals called Crazy Clicks, I made greeting cards, tried my hand at MLM selling, I taught piano and voice lessons, and I created a children’s music brand/persona called Rockin’ Red Music (which is one of my favorite accomplishments!)  I also opened a music/photo/art studio (called DART Studio) after I started DART Boutique.

Here is a picture from one of my Rockin' Red performances:

Anyway, back to the story. From my love of hosting rummage sales, DART Boutique was born.  I didn’t know what to sell, but I loved browsing unique gift shops.  I also loved fashion and would often get compliments on my outfits. Selling clothing was an easy choice. I researched where I could find wholesale suppliers to purchase from and started rolling with the new business building process.  

I spoke with my accountant since I wanted to run my business as Dolby Artistry Boutique under my original LLC.  However, she informed me that I needed to create a new LLC since I would be starting a retail business and not a service business.  Okay, fine.  But what should I call it?  I knew I wanted to somehow include my name but not use my actual name.  Whenever I would abbreviate my paperwork for Dolby Artistry I would write DART.  I liked the tie-in and nod to my original LLC name.  Plus, Khloe Kardashian had just opened a clothing store named DASH.  I figured if she can do that, I can have a store named DART.  I vividly remember the look on my accountant’s face when I told her I was going to name it DART Boutique.  She looked at me very hesitantly and said, “Are you sure?”  I confidently said, “Yes. I will market this brand name and people will remember it.”  Perhaps I should have given it more thought since we STILL get people who walk into our store and think we only sell darts.  I did use subtle dartboard images in my original marketing designs.  And we had a dartboard you could use on the wall of my first store.  That counts for something, right? 

Here is my original logo design and how my first products were tagged:

Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked.  I never had any intention of opening a brick and mortar store.  I had always planned to run the business from my home.  I set up a little corner of my basement and dedicated it to this new boutique.  I was enjoying this new business venture so much!  I kept expanding, and expanding until my entire basement living room was a boutique.  The bathroom became a “dressing room” and a towel rack in the hallway became our “go-back rack”.  I decided to start carrying shoes but didn’t realize how much room they would take up.  So, the boutique then expanded to my garage.  

Here are some photos of the basement boutique (Sept 2018):

I kept hosting rummage sales and eventually started selling my boutique items along with my household goods. My rummage sale in the Spring of 2018 included racks of clothing in the garage with a pop-up tent dressing room.  That same Fall at yet another rummage sale, I decided to let people into my house and shop the basement boutique. Yes, I let random rummage sale shopping strangers into my house unattended.  I may have a few screws loose in my brain…But, fun fact–one of my current employees was a gal I met from the basement shop days!

Photo of my rummage sale with the changing tent in the background (2018):

[Side Note:] When I started holding rummage sales I knew that I would get a better turnout if I rallied other neighbors to host sales on the same days.  I figured we’d get more people to come to our part of town if we had a neighborhood rummage sale to shop multiple sales in one area.  This year will mark the 10th anniversary of our neighborhood rummage sales.  And yours truly has been the one to organize it every year. :) Maybe someday I’ll create a rummage sale guide to share the knowledge I’ve gained over the years.  Last year I did a segment on KELOLAND Living about hosting a successful rummage sale.  If you want to watch that, here is the link: Thrifty Throwdown: Learn to Rummage From a Pro

After a while we decided that it was time to reclaim our basement and take this business to the next level.  The hunt for retail space began.  Stay tuned for Chapter 2 to learn about our first brick and mortar store opening.

Posing in my basement boutique in 2018: