Spotlight on Small Business: Glaze 2 Curvy Girl Clothing Boutique

Sep 22, 2023

For Glaze 2 Curvy Girl Clothing Boutique owner Lindsey Hart, her business is all about helping women of all sizes recognize their true beauty.

"I’m 6 feet tall and a size 22. I’m really open about my body and the issues that plus-size women face. I am totally comfortable talking about it. When girls come in, they love to shop with me. When I started running a boutique and working one-on-one with customers, I realized that this was my personal mission. I’m not lying to women — I’m helping them feel good in their bodies. The business is based off of making people feel as good as they can in their own skin. I’ve had to really be thoughtful in my buying decisions," Hart said.

Hart's previous career was spent in professional sales and as an account manager for L’Oreal. In 2019, Hart gave birth to a child with special needs and realized that she wouldn't be able to work full-time. She was staying home with her son when COVID hit. And that's when an opportunity presented itself.

"One of my friends owned a plus-sized store, and I’d been modeling for her for years. I cared about her business, and I wanted her to be successful as her friend. She had me doing social media for her, and I didn't have much else going on, and I’m not much of a homebody. So my friend came to me and said, ‘Why don't you just buy the curvy side of the business from me?’" Hart recalled. "We came to an agreement, and I bought the store from her. I bought the brand, Facebook group, and clothes. Within six months, the business had grown tenfold. We started doing live streams, and the business grew even more."

Hart's passion for helping plus-size women find clothes they love stems from her own personal struggle growing up.

"As a teenager and young career person, I had to go to stores that were size-appropriate, but they were not age appropriate. I felt like I was dressing like a grandma. I want people to feel like their best possible selves when they shop. Size in my store limits me to what I can carry, but that doesn't stop me from trying to find the best and most diverse clothing options available for that size range," Hart said. "We service sizes 12-24 and XL-3XL."

After being in business for six months, Hart started the online side of her business and opened up a website with live-stream sales and promotions.

"I have an app that lets us make live broadcast sales. We try on clothes and model them, and we giggle and chat and talk about our lives, and we have a really great time," Hart said. "I think that's helped us grow so much because we’re being genuine and authentic. That authenticity in marketing to plus-size women is really lacking."

Hart's business, located at 105 North 8th Street, Suite 9 in Cabot, has grown both locally and all over the country through her online presence, making her business one of the largest privately owned plus-sized boutiques in Arkansas.

But that doesn't mean that Hart hasn't faced her fair share of challenges.

"The timing of my buying and running the business was during the pandemic, and that was a trying time. I had to make it apparent and transparent that I have a really sick son, and I need everyone to wear masks," Hart said. "The first full year I owned the store, we were coming out of the pandemic, and business was booming. During the month of the war in Ukraine, when gas and groceries started going crazy and the economy started dipping, I saw sales start dipping. You can even look at my books and see when it happened.

"I was in a large inventory situation with way fewer shoppers. I had to start looking at the big box stores to pivot in my buying. I started buying things of greater value for a smaller price and pivoted on my price point. It's month-to-month. One month will be fantastic, and one will be crap. I manage it like a household. If you’ve got less money coming in, you’ve got to spend less. We weren't as price sensitive as the big-name stores. I took a little less margin and try to recoup cash out of my business. Plus, I’ve been spreading out price points so people don't feel ostracized from your store. At large chains, the bigger the size, the bigger the price. I’m not comfortable with that," Hart said.

Hart took a moment to focus on some of her successes, too.

"Personally, I don't deal with angry customers. I don't have people come in here and be mad about something. My customers are so thankful, and they really fill up my cup. It makes it easier for me to fill up their cup. This world is so hard, so if we as strangers can make each other feel good, we should," Hart said. "It's wonderful to have an open-door mentality with my customers. I help solve their problems by finding something that fits them and makes them feel good. It's not a money thing, it's an intrinsic caring for one another."

Hart discussed the financial side of her business and the future, too.

"Financially, I’m obviously able to provide for my family and take care of my critically ill child, and I feel like I have a purpose; this is my mission. I hope to be owning this store 10 years from now and grow it and continue to love people. Cabot has a commercial building shortage, so I’m stuck where I’m at at the moment, but I’m on everybody's radar to participate in different things around our community," Hart said.

Hart shared a word of advice for individuals hoping to follow a similar career path.

"My husband is an educator, and we talk about this a lot. It's important to go into the real world and learn from someone who is really good at the thing you want to do so you can get a feel for that kind of business. It's not just going to college; it's about finding someone who's great at doing what you want to do and learning from them," Hart said. "Come do all of the hard stuff that the owner does, as well as all of the fun stuff. You have to understand all of the aspects of a business – good and bad, easy and hard. I take out my own trash, I break down my own boxes, I clean up after myself, I’m a team player and I have zero turnovers in employees. I’ve worked for people in the past who were horrible, and I want to be the opposite. Do the hard stuff first."

Lastly, Hart shared some of the life lessons that she's learned from owning her small business.

"You can't take anything personally. Nothing. I see it a lot here. I see women who look stunning, and they go into a dressing room, and they don't like the way they look. The clothes look fabulous, but they don't feel good. It's not personal, it's just how the customer is feeling. It has nothing to do with you," Hart said. "You have to be just aggressive enough to ask for the sale but don't be pushy. There's a really fine line between asking for the sale and being pushy. I’m not pushy because I don't pay commissions, and I don't believe in them. I don't want my employees to smother people because I don't like being smothered. I give people a minute and ask if I can help — I don't like stepping on toes. But I do push people outside of their box to encourage them."

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