Would you buy clothes from a bus? An Edmonton boutique owner is banking on it

An Edmonton-area boutique owner is hoping people will get on board with her unique business idea of selling clothes — out of a van.

Boutique On Your Street, which opened last summer, is one of the first retail operations in the Edmonton area to follow a growing trend of businesses across the country turning to new ways to sell their products.

Wendy Smith, owner of Boutique On Your Street, told 630 CHED Afternoons with Bryn Griffiths that she was inspired to open the business after she left her job in retail.

“I was a single mom of two kids and I knew I wanted to work for myself,” she said in a Monday interview.

“I originally wanted to start a shoe store here in Spruce Grove, but I couldn’t afford to stock one and rent one, so I had to make other choices.”

That’s when a friend suggested Smith run the business like a food truck. She eventually bought a bus that was retired by Strathcona County and renovated it from top to bottom.

Once the bus was stocked with clothes and shoes, she hit the road with her business partner.

“We have been on the four corners of Alberta, and even into Dawson Creek, B.C., earlier this year,” Smith said, noting that the business’s social media channels give shoppers a heads up on where the bus will go each week.

“We were down in Canmore and Jasper and … Beaumont.”

When customers first step onto the bus, Smith said people are often shocked. It looks like a normal bus on the outside, but it’s a complete boutique on the inside, she said.

“One of the first questions we get is, ‘Are these vintage clothes’ or, ‘Are these used clothes?’” she said.

“They’re brand new … I’m not going to say we’re the first people to ever sell clothes out of a bus … but we’re the first ones that have unique, brand new, one-of-a-kind pieces that are from all over the world.”

She said the business has been well received. Some of her customers have even followed the bus around to different places. One of the main obstacles is having to be really selective with product stock, given its smaller space.

“What we do is we try and find those unique pieces that you can add to the wardrobes that you buy at the brick-and-mortar stores,” Smith said.

“So it’s just that little bit of something extra, so you can add it to your wardrobe, just to zhuzh things up a little bit.”

Smith said there are plans to add more buses to the fleet so the business can be in multiple locations simultaneously.

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