PITTSBURG — Once you’ve tasted success, it’s hard to not want more. But the two don’t necessarily follow.
In Kelly Sigg’s case, it’s a good bet she’ll score another winner.
Owner of Audacious Boutique, a downtown Iola women’s clothing store, Sigg opened a second store on Friday in downtown Pittsburg.
The Pittsburg store will carry much the same as the Iola location. The only addition will be clothing and accessories that compliment Pittsburg State University’s colors of red and gold.
“It’s our ‘Game Day’ attire,” Sigg said.
Located at 511 N. Broadway, the store is a short distance from the PSU campus. Sigg hopes her store becomes a go-to destination for PSU students.
THE IDEA to expand came after a failure of sorts.
“I thought if I wanted my business grow, the obvious path was to build a website and sell online,” she said.
The endeavor proved overwhelming. “The web site was a failure,” she said, citing its maintenance as beyond her ken.
“Our Iola store has always been so strong, so the hope is to replicate that hometown feeling,” she said, with good customer care.
Key to its success will be putting Toni Taylor as manager.
Taylor has worked for Sigg almost since the Iola store opened in April 2011. A senior at PSU, Taylor, 22, is majoring in fashion merchandising. Four other part-time employees will join Taylor on staff.
Sigg plans to be on hand one day a week in Pittsburg. Kelly Macha, who has helped Sigg in almost every phase of the business and is a native of Pittsburg, also will be available to help out at the new location.
Born and raised in Iola, Sigg said opening the Iola store was a dream come true. That it has been a success bolstered her decision to expand in some format.
“I knew from doing trunk shows down this way there was a market,” for her clothes, Sigg said.
Former Iolan Kelsey Bolt, now Boulware, and a teacher in Pittsburg, hosted Sigg’s shows on numerous occasions. “The reception was always so positive and encouraging,” Sigg said.
It wasn’t until a sales representative encouraged her to open a second store that Sigg started putting out feelers last spring.
“I called the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce and its executive director showed me three available sites right off the bat,” she said. Her favorite was a flower shop that was due to move to a new location the end of July.
In that time since, Sigg has done some slight changes to the building’s interior which is just about the same size as her Iola store except it has three dressing rooms off the showroom area.
The idea to open Friday was decided “Tuesday night,” Sigg said, in order to take advantage of the weekend’s Little Balkans Festival in downtown.
“They’re going to close off the downtown to traffic. So hopefully, there will be lots of foot traffic going by our front door,” she said.
Sigg plans to have summer wear on sale outside, with her line of fall merchandise kept inside.
Turning everything around in time for the opening has been a whirlwind.
“We were at market in Dallas Aug. 12-14 to help stock the store,” she said. The bohemian look is still popular, Sigg said, as well as puffy vests, plaid, and “anything suede and with fringe.”
