What’s happening: All About Women’s Health Boutique & Spa has found a new, much larger home in downtown Farmington. And the boutique, which started out specializing in mastectomy products for women but has since expanded to include a wide variety of health and beauty products for patients and non-patients alike, is already benefiting from the move.
“We’ve seen an increase in foot traffic just in the last 30 days,” says Kelly Freeman, who co-owns All About Women’s Health Boutique & Spa with her cousin Mariam Searcy.
Backstory: Mariam and Kelly started the business after Mariam retired as a Detroit Police lieutenant and started volunteering with the American Cancer Society. Seeing a need from women who have experienced a mastectomy or lumpectomy, All About Women’s Health started fitting women with breast prostheses, mastectomy bras, compression sleeves, wigs, and more. They eventually expanded to sell and fit all kinds of bras for all kinds of women, from A cups to O.
From Livonia to Farmington: When All About Women's Health Boutique & Spa first moved to downtown Farmington in 2014, it was a bit of a downsize — at least when it comes to the store footprint. Having first opened in Livonia in 1999, the women’s boutique left their original 2,500 sq. ft. space for a 1,000 sq. ft. historic home-turned-storefront in downtown Farmington. But what the business lost in floor space they made up for in customers (and then some).
“Because of the visibility where we were in the old house on Grand River, we got a lot more walk-in traffic. A lot of customers were curious as to what we do, not just the breast cancer survivors, but all women. And we don't just do the bras anymore; we have other unique boutique items, some clothes and jewelry and skincare items,” Freeman says.
“Having that walk-in traffic and being seen on the major main street of Farmington really helped us a great deal and we loved it.”
Scaling back up: As the business prospered on Grand River, the need for more space became more and more clear. But while Kelly and Mariam wanted more space, they knew that they didn’t want to leave downtown Farmington either. It was while the cousins shared a lunchtime stroll when they discovered their new location, leading to the eventual move. The new storefront is almost 2,000 sq. ft., allowing All About Women’s Health to scale up while at the same time staying in town.
Support system: “We definitely wanted to stay in this area because of the community and the DDA. The support that we have around here, trying to push up and promote small businesses, and especially during the pandemic — it keeps us going,” Freeman says. “We just want to let everybody know that we are in this new location with a much brighter, larger space, continuing to do business down here.”
All About Women’s Health Boutique & Spa is now located at 23415 Farmington Rd. in downtown Farmington.
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