Boutique bonanza: Grand Forks adds women’s clothing stores

Growing up in Rolla, N.D., hours away from shopping centers in the state's larger cities, Heather McAtee had limited options for buying clothes outside of the Internet.

"That's what you'd do, you'd order online," she said. "Unless you wanted to drive three hours."

Those limited options showed McAtee how far of a reach women's clothes stores in the region could have. Fresh out of college, she and Jessica Bollinger opened Key Bliss Boutique online before opening a physical store near Grand Forks' Columbia Mall earlier this month, days before another women's clothing shop, Curious Clothing, opened downtown as part of a wave of new women's apparel stores in town over the past few years. Another shop, Mainstream Boutique, plans to open next week near the Columbia Mall.

The owners of those stores said their opening provides another option for women in the region and signals the area's growing viability for shoppers. It also comes after a 2011 study pointed to women's clothing as one sector the Grand Forks market was losing out on to other cities.

"So many people currently are driving to Fargo, because downtown Fargo has so many great boutiques, and they're all centrally located," said Brianne Osowski, owner of Curious Clothing. "I think that's what's great about adding all of these stores to Grand Forks. So instead of having people go all that way, they can stay in Grand Forks and have just as great of an experience."

Buxton study

Nicole Johnson remembers when there were few shopping options here outside of the Columbia Mall. That's what led her and her business partner Tessa Hiney to launch what is now Kittsona, a women's clothing store downtown that has since opened locations in Fargo and Bismarck.

Johnson has noticed more competition move in since they opened.

"In the past four years that we've been in business, we've seen a huge surge in pretty much all of the cities that we occupy. ... We've noticed a lot more coming in," Johnson said. "It's just all the more reason to distinguish yourself as far as your product mix, your environment, your atmosphere."

It's been about five years since an analytics firm completed a study at the request of the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks as well as local business groups that identified what businesses could be a good fit in the market. The Buxton study ultimately identified women's clothing and restaurants as sectors with the most "leakage," or ones that shoppers were going elsewhere to find.

The results of that study were sent to major chains across the country, some of which have since located here. But Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of the Chamber of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, said the results could have helped spur some of the independent women's clothes shops to open over the past few years.

"We live in a free enterprise economy, and when you point opportunity out to people in a logical, analytical way, people will fill those needs," Wilfahrt said.

Friendly competition

Michelle Kaufman doesn't see the recent influx of women's clothing stores as increased competition. The owner of Hey Ocean at 615 First Ave. N. said her store is somewhat unique in that it focuses on a "West Coast lifestyle."

"I think there is a lot of room in Grand Forks for a lot of different options for a lot of different types of people, women especially," she said. Hey Ocean opened in Bismarck in 2011 before following it up with the Grand Forks shop in 2014.

The near-simultaneous opening of Key Bliss and Curious prompted a bit of goodwill between the two stores: Both offered coupons to each other's stores.

"We figured it would be better to help each other out," Osowski said. "And the more clothing stores that open in Grand Forks, then it's good for all of us because it attracts more of a shopping community here."

The Key Bliss owners developed plans for their shop as UND students studying entrepreneurship. They launched their online store in June 2014, but didn't initially plan on opening a brick and mortar store.

"We got going, and we got so much feedback," McAtee said.

Osowski first launched the Curious gift shop on 32nd Avenue South in Grand Forks before opening her clothing store across from Town Square. The new shop is following up on her passion and previous experience working as a fashion model in New York City.

"This space popped open and we couldn't say no," she said.