2 friends open Lee Branch boutique
Alicia Cuevas and Meredith Horton have been friends for 12 years. They’ve attended Double Oak Community Church and been in small group together. Although they both had other careers — Horton in nursing and Cuevas in real estate — the women decided to partner to open a store.
Celeste Heavenly Boutique, located next door to Taziki’s in Lee Branch, opened for business Dec. 18 and held a grand opening Feb. 10. The women chose the store’s name from Celeste’s translation — it means “heavenly” in Latin and French.
When the economy took a downturn several years ago, Cuevas took a break in her real estate career and spent time working as a personal shopper at the Pentagon City Nordstrom in Washington, D.C. This experience led her to model Celeste to be after Nordstrom’s customer service and personal shopping.
“My dream was to have a Nordstrom-style boutique with personal services that blesses and ministers to our community,” Cuevas said.
Cuevas first mentioned opening a store last October, Horton said, when she brought up possibly needing her three daughters to work there. Horton didn’t know what her friend was talking about, but jokingly asked if there was a role for her.
“Alicia then asked if I could do anything what would it be, and I told her I’d always wanted to open a boutique or be an event planner,” Horton said, “and she then asked me, ‘What if I could make your dreams come true?’”
The next day, the ladies and their husbands went to lunch to discuss the business plan. When Cuevas and Horton compares inspiration photos for the store, the pictures were identical.
“Our vision and dream for what the business was supposed to be was the same,” Cuevas said.
Since both women live in the Greystone community, they were happy to find an available space in the nearby Lee Branch Shopping Center.
Once the deal was done, Horton turned in her two-week notice and said goodbye to her nursing career. She now handles the day-to-day operations of the business while Cuevas continues her full-time real estate career.
The shop came together quickly, they said, and less than two months from getting the keys to the space until, they opened the doors.
Horton’s three daughters help out with the store by modeling the clothes, and Horton said they describe Celeste Heavenly Boutique as a “multi-generational shop,” where women can shop with both their moms and daughters.
“I try to get clothing for all generations,” Horton said. “We have stuff for me, my mom and my daughter. There’s something in here for everyone.”
Their other business goal is to help with charities, missions and local families who are in need.
“We are both Christian women and God has blessed us with this opportunity,” Horton said. “We want to be able to help others while having fun running our boutique.”
Celeste Heavenly Boutique is located at 611 Doug Baker Blvd, suite 114. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, go to facebook.com/celesteheavenlyboutique.