“I always told people it’s kind of like Christmas, you’re never going to know what you’re going to get,” said Elaine Remole, co-owner of Briella’s Boutique, which recently opened a storefront in Mahomet.
The Boutique first launched in 2010 with its initial location in Savoy, serving the communities of Urbana, Rantoul, Monticello, Tuscola ever since.
The store includes women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing while also holding upscale handbags, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories.
The shop runs as a “consignment shop” which is a retail store that specializes in selling items for people if it meets the shop’s standards. The owner receives a percentage of the sale price once the item is sold.
Co-owner Brittney Remole mentioned it was her sister-in-law, Elaine’s dream to start a consignment shop, reselling their own unique and diverse items.
“In college, I had worked at my friend’s consignment store in Burnwoye and loved it”, said Elaine.
Once Elaine returned to the Champaign area, she decided she wanted to open a consignment store of her own, and that is how Briella’s Boutique was born.
One of the many benefits of consignment shopping is being able to shop multiple brands with reasonable prices in one place.
“Sometimes we’ll get that really unique, vintage piece that is so special,” mentioned Elaine.
Because of the diverse array of options available at the different locations, customers enjoy “the thrill of the hunt,” as Elaine described it.
On the website, seller, Deanna Huber mentioned “Nice staff, great prices, quality choices.”
After speaking with the Remoles, it was clear that being courteous is one of the top priorities of the store.
“On reviews, the biggest comment people make is the friendly staff. I’m excited that we have an amazing, friendly staff, that helps any business— a big-box store or local shop,” stated Elaine.
Besides the abundance of options and courteous staff, the boutique embodied local charm by constantly giving back to their customers and consignors by having their annual birthday sale and markdown days for specific items.
“We have a ladies’ night in the summer where we stay open a few hours in the evenings providing complimentary hors d’oeuvres saying thanks to our customers and consignors,” said Elaine.
The spirit of local retail therapy was abruptly stopped when the coronavirus hit the Eastern-Illinois area.
“The pandemic made it difficult to sell, especially this time last year when people weren’t really sure what this virus was capable of,” said Elaine.
While the store was unable to run physically, the owners made it a priority to still sell specialty clothing to their customers virtually. Facebook Marketplace became the main selling outlet while the stores were closed. Customers either picked up their items or had them delivered.
“Once people saw we were up and running online during the pandemic, our business quickly improved,” mentioned Elaine.
Briella’s will have a soft-opening on July 9 in the Eastwood Shopping Center.
“We decided that Mahomet is a growing community and it felt that this would be a great spot for our next Briella’s Boutique consignment store,” said Elaine.
