Talking Shop with The Red Poppy

At least once a month, we're bringing you a Q&A session with some of our favorite local business owners across Kansas City. However, this one is special because it comes from our hometown of Nixa. We're excited to introduce you to The Red Poppy, a gloriously fashionable and budget-friendly boutique just a few blocks from my home. I stop in this store about once a week to check out their new items and bring my girls in every time they come home for a visit. It's my favorite place to stock up on cute dresses and jewelry without breaking the bank.

image courtesy of 417mag.com

Robyn Abbott, Lindsay Jones and Susan Williams transformed this simple cottage home on a not-so desirable street in Nixa into a destination shop full of fun, girly pieces. I had the pleasure of speaking with Robyn, who shared with me how they got started and what's in store for us.

Let's start from the beginning. 
The Red Poppy began with the three of us girlfriends making little daytrips of shopping and "boutiquing" while our kids were in school. We found a lot of fun and pleasure in finding new little interesting shops that offered clothing and accessories new and different than everything we were seeing at the mall. We knew what we liked, and what we wanted as women in our 30's and 40's, but we're constantly met with the challenge of finding it all under one roof. That's how we began to create our own. We began quite conservativly in the laundry room with a page on Facebook. We sold our first 10 dresses, then bought 20, sold those, then bought 40 and so on. Before we knew it, we had a customer base along with requests to open a shop where customers could actually see, feel, and try on items. In October 2011, we opened our little Poppy House in Nixa.

Where did the vision for the store come from?
Although we are great friends, we each have such different personalities when it comes to our individual style. We believe this has been a huge asset for us. Between the three of us, hopefully everyone can come into our shop and find something they like or relate to. Our main goal at The Red Poppy is to give every woman, regardless of age or economic status, a personal shopping experience with service, variety, style and FUN!  Just as our motto on our front porch states, we want every woman who visits The Poppy to walk out our door "looking great, feeling good and being happy". Isn't that what all women want?

Yep, I walked away with this dress. Too cute to pass up!

What are your favorite things to shop for at market?
We LOVE looking for new dresses, jewelry and handbags.  We each have our favorite designers and always get excited to see what's coming next. We try to bring back items that have great fun, flair and energy.

What are a few of your must-have items in the store right now?
As far as what we have in store, I will say our hottest trend right now is our bright, bold lucite jewelry. It comes in many different forms, sizes and color. We have requests to reorder it about every other day. Our gold lace drop waist maxi dress has also been a huge crowd pleaser for this season of destination and outdoor weddings.

Trying on the lucite bracelet. Great statement piece!

What kinds of things can we expect to see in the fall? 
We're super excited for our fall clothes to arrive in the store. This season we will see an array of colors such as navy, lavender, mocha, grey and gold. Houndstooth, paisley, tortoise, suede and fringe all seem to be finding their way back into the limelight as well. We will also feature a hand painted wooden bangle of the month from a local artist new to the area. We are so thrilled to be able to share those with everyone.

Some of the goodies!

Is a drive to Nixa out of the question? (Come on - we are a hop and skip and jump to Branson!) Not to worry — The Red Poppy sells items on their Facebook page. Check back often because they are constantly getting new items in. Happy shopping!