Tru Blue Boutique hadn’t even been open for a full year yet when the COVID-19 pandemic struck our shores, causing even more uncertainty in the first year of business for the first-time entrepreneurs that opened the clothing boutique.
“It’s been a tricky year. We were only open six or nine months before COVID came. We still didn’t have a full year of decision-making,” says Lorinda Kain, owner of Tru Blue Boutique in St. Clair.
“It’s coming together though. We made it this far and summer is coming, which is always good for business in St. Clair County.”
Kain credits people like her landlords at the St. Clair Riverview Plaza for working hard to keep foot traffic up. Special events, like hosting a pop-up from Port Huron’s Batchmade Beauty, help, too.
In the midst of all this, Kain has added new products at the store, including expanding their clothing options for men.
Now the St. Clair boutique has partnered with a Los Angeles clothing brand, a move that Kain hopes will continue to drive customers to her store. Tru Blue Boutique has partnered with the fashion apparel brand Liverpool Los Angeles, becoming one of 86 Destination Liverpool Shops across the United States.
“They reached out to us as one of the select few boutiques to do this, probably because we carry a significant amount of products from them,” Kain says. “We recently started carrying their men’s line, from jackets to denim to shirts.”
While the partnership is mutually beneficial to both parties, it should provide an especially welcome boost for Tru Blue. Liverpool Los Angeles is helping the St. Clair boutique with advertising, offering educational forums for their sales associates, and connecting them with other partnered stores for networking opportunities.
The Liverpool brand will also make Tru Blue a priority when it comes to shipments and inventory, a welcome relief for Kain, who says that COVID has caused significant delays in the supply chain. Future developments will include exclusive products and a Liverpool build-out tailored to the store.
“We’ve only been open since 2019, so we’ll take every bit of help that we can get,” Kain says. “They really take care of us. It means a lot.”
Tru Blue Boutique is located in the Riverside Plaza in St. Clair.
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