Is Any One Else Bothered?!

By: Erin Hall @ Boutiquing

In the last two months I visited Dallas, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now you must understand, I love going to new places, I love to experience the culture, the food and the shopping…ohhhh the shopping. But my travel excitement was instantly quenched when besides the dry, flat landscape; I realized it looked so similar to Orange County. Everywhere my eyes landed, it was the same visual, shopping center after shopping center full of large retail and food chain stores. I began to question the anger rising up on the inside of me. Why was this bothering me so much??

I was bothered because these large chains are pushing out the mom and pop small businesses. Everywhere you turn a small business is closing its doors while another T.J. Maxx opens up. You must understand I’m an avid supporter of small businesses, partially due to principal and partially due to selfishness. I like supporting someone’s dream, time and passion and that’s what I believe small business’ represent. I get excited when the owner/chef of restaurant personally comes out to my table and introduces himself and his food as if you were dining in his own home. I get excited when I’m able to purchase a one of a kind vintage Vatican coin necklace in a small boutique while the owner tells me about the designer whom hand makes each piece.

I am bothered because I think we are being robbed of experiences, connection and originality in exchange for systems, streamlining and profits. I don’t want to travel to a new city just to eat and shop at the same places I can at home. I want to create memories and acquire unique pieces. I want to wear jewelry that is noticeably different. I want to eat food that takes my taste buds on a journey with new flavors; I can’t do that in a sea of mass-produced locations.

A friend who is from Tulsa and an avid shopper recommended Utica Square in Tulsa as a shopping destination, so of course I eagerly anticipated my arrival. In my mind I pictured a cute little section of downtown Tulsa littered with one of a kind shops. As we parked in front of Starbucks instantly my excitement turned to disappointment when I saw Banana Republic, Saks, Pier One, Bath and Body Works, White House Black Market, American Eagle and Ann Taylor just to name a unique few (I can be quite facetious). There are great products in all of these stores, yes, but I wanted a boutiquing experience and I was irritated because I didn’t know where to go to find what I was looking for.

That’s the problem! The small businesses are hard to find. They don’t have a budget for large websites or expensive retail locations. They aren’t on Google and the hotel concierge doesn’t know where to find them. As a manager of 3 upscale boutiques in Orange County for five years, I know how hard it is to connect a searching customer with a unique boutique. I myself would become so frustrated when looking for new shopping ventures outside the mall. So here is our mission, to locate, promote and detail all boutiques, big, small, hidden and known. Starting with Orange County and then expanding, we will not stop till you know where to find all the best boutiquing experiences. Help us keep "Boutiquing" alive and well by supporting the boutiques and informing us of any that have missed our list.