By Will Fairless
Associate Editor
Taylor Jones, an Auburn graduate in fashion merchandising, is opening her boutique’s first brick-and-mortar location in downtown Opelika.
The Tiny Closet Boutique located at 207 S. 8th St. is the first storefront for Jones and the Tiny Closet. “We’re really excited. We can actually like talk and chat, and I can help them,” Jones said. “We can build closer relationships with our customers, and that’s always been our biggest thing. It’s never been about an income to us; it’s always been about an impact. I’d much rather have women feel incredible in [our clothes] than make a sale.”
The online boutique, which has shipped clothes to every state in the country and to Australia and the UK, was started in 2017 while Jones was still in college. Its mission statement reflects Jones’s impact-over-income mentality; that statemenet is to “Be the CEO your parents wanted you to marry.”
“I want people to come in and when they put our clothes on, to feel like they are empowered,” Jones said. “They feel like a CEO, whether that’s being the CEO of your life, not even a company.”
The Tiny Closet, which started in a spare bedroom and spent parts of its existence in a 40-foot bus and small office space in Auburn, is now an open plan store that Jones has tailored to fit her customers’ wants. “I want it to be a photo spot; I want it to be a place where people want to post about it,” Jones said.
The obvious photo spot, which Jones imagines will be featured in free, customer-created marketing, is a couch sitting in front of a pink neon sign that is at least six feet tall and reads, in cursive, “Clothes before bros.”
Besides making the space ideal for her customers, Jones said she will continue to adapt its contents to their tastes. She’s always kept her stock rotating to reflect the latest trends and current seasons, but she said the physical location will give her an opportunity to hear what her patrons are looking for. There will be some things sold exclusively at the Opelika location, likely including items in orange and blue.
“I feel like our stuff’s really different. There’s nothing in here that you’re gonna say, ‘This is really basic. I’ve seen this before.’ Because we’re not basic; we always want to have something fun,” Jones said.
She added that although her target demographic ranges from freshmen in college to new moms, anybody can wear her clothes. “We had a woman who I’m pretty positive was in her 80s, and she bought a crazy sweater from us, and I was like, ‘Cool, you can rock it, you can do it.’ We have a little of it all for everybody.”
The Tiny Closet’s grand opening is Sept. 10, and it is always open online. To learn more about The Tiny Closet, visit their website (shopthetinycloset.com) or Facebook page (The Tiny Closet Boutique).