“It takes a lot of courage, and you really have to love what you do to put yourself out there like this,” said Jodi Jendrysik, as she fought back emotions, taking a quick lunch break from taking inventory.
Days before the April 26 closure of her downtown Owatonna store, Lilly & Rose Boutique, Jendrysik sat down with the People’s Press to talk about the trials and triumphs of being a local business owner, and the many factors that led to her decision to close.
None of which, she asserts, has anything to do with downtown Owatonna or the community.
“I couldn’t find a work-life balance, because I am someone who wants it all,” Jendrysik said. “Because I wanted to do it all, I felt like I was failing it all because I couldn’t give each area of my life in the way I want to give.”
Over the past several months, Jendrysik has seen many changes in her life. Most notably, her daughter has moved to Florida and her mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Wanting to be able to visit her child as well as care for her mother, Jendrysik said she made the difficult decision to close down the boutique for good.
“There was so much love in making this decision, choosing the love of my family, but there was love in making the decision to close, too,” she said. “I am as proud of my store as I am of my children, and I want to leave the store on a good note because so much positive has come from it.”
Closing trend
Since the beginning of the year, Lilly & Rose is one of five downtown boutiques that closed up shop. Prior to its closure, Spotted Sunflower Boutique/Steele Threads moved back to an online model — with a display available for shopping provided at VIBES — while Krazy Bling Boutique transitioned back to an online and event-only model. Bellebrook Boutique also went back to its roots with an online only format, providing pickup at Paffrath’s Jewelers. Beautifully Seen Boutique is reportedly closing and transitioning back to online, after being open for 10 months, though the owner has not confirmed when that transition will take place.
“It’s a gut punch anytime a business closes,” said Brad Meier, president of the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism. “Each owner has their own story to tell and their own reasons for running a business. Running a small business is an exciting experience, but it has its challenges. Their business can do well and then hit a rough spot. Sometimes those rough spots last too long and the business can’t sustain itself or the owner decides it’s the right time to close.”
Going into the 2023 holiday season, Owatonna had eight boutiques downtown. Today, the last remaining boutiques are Hidden Rose, Urban Loft and Graif.
Being part of the tight knit group of downtown business owners, Jendrysik said she knew they all had a hard time finding people to work, leaving the owners often the only person to keep the store open. When any of them wanted to go on vacation, were sick or had another event to attend, one of their only options was to close up shop during that time.
Back to their roots
According to Alysha Frie, co-owner of Bellebrook, online sales carrying the business also factored into the decision for her boutique as well as others.
“The driving sales for us have always been online,” Frie said. As the lease for the building was coming up this spring, coupled with one of their main employees giving notice as they were graduating from school and would be looking for full time employment elsewhere, Frie said she and co-owner Kellie Jordahl had the opportunity to step back and look at their options.
Similar to Bellebrook, Spotted Sunflower, Krazy Bling and Beautifully Seen had all started online.
“We had been open for six years, which is kind of crazy, but when we opened six years ago neither of us had children and were both in different positions with our full time jobs than we are now,” Frie said. “We were at a different point in life, but everything just sort of fell into place as far as timing goes, so it felt like a no-brainer and a perfect solution to move back online and have a local pick up spot.”
Like Jendrysik, however, Frie said the one factor that did not play much into their decision was the community support.
“The amount of business in the store was very little of the driving decision. We didn’t have a ton of walk-in traffic, but it was super fun, which is the hardest part of it all,” Frie said. “I loved working on Saturdays, it was so fun to be in the boutique and have conversations with regulars and meet new people. You connect with a lot of different people who you may not have ever met otherwise.”
Because they were not losing money having the brick and mortar store open, Frie said the decision to close up shop at the end of the lease in March had more to do with finding the right balance between work and life, allowing them to do the online part with 100% effort and focus.
After years of running both an online and storefront boutique, Frie said she is not entirely surprised to see so many boutiques move to online-only formats. From what she has seen, people are just busy, and shopping online is often their best or even only option.
“I think it’s everywhere, not just Owatonna,” Frie said, noting that a nearby mall felt vacant when she recently visited. “You can still support local and shop online. Obviously Amazon is easy, but we have a lot of options with a lot of locally-owned boutiques being online.”
Closing the chapter
Jendrysik, however, is content with ending the Lilly & Rose chapter, adding that she doesn’t have a desire to learn running an online boutique. Having first opened the boutique in Pelican Rapids eight years ago, before reopening in Owatonna first on Oak Avenue and again on Cedar Avenue less than two years later, Jendrysik states she has felt blessed to be a part of the downtown Owatonna business community.
“Knowing what I know now, I will continue to always encourage anyone to take that step out of faith and go after their dreams,” Jendrysik said. “Don’t have any regrets. I don’t regret one day in this store. I loved every moment of it.”
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