We sat down with the owner of Dotsy’s Boutique, Kristin Babbitt, to share more about her passion for fashion and the community Dotsy’s has built here in the Texas Panhandle.
If you are a regular out West, chances are you’ve shopped Dotsy’s apparel and accessories housed inside The Collective. Dotsy’s Boutique was one of our first Collective Retailers, and we are so incredibly proud of the growth Kristin and her team have seen over the last few years. Find out more about how Dotsy’s started and the beautiful space they’ve created in Wolflin Square below.
What made you decide to start your own business?
When I was younger I felt the need to be in more of a “helping” style career in order to be who the Lord wanted me to be. But once my husband and I started a family I knew that I wanted to be home with my children. However, in order for that to happen, my family was going to have to make a lot of hard sacrifices. So I ended up quitting my job as a social worker when I was 28 years old – which was incredibly hard on me. I definitely had the heart for it, but not the stomach. When my daughter was about a year old, I started making jewelry as a way of letting out my creative juices, and I realized that I could start selling it too.
I have always been creative, and I always loved the thought of owning and operating my own business and that entrepreneurial aspect of it, but I didn’t feel confident that I could do it. I eventually caught this bug of telling myself, “You know what? I think I CAN do this!” and I decided to use all of these gifts and talents that the Lord has put inside me to pursue this dream. So three years in to making jewelry, I expanded into clothing. I started hustling! I was selling my products at every craft show that I could, making connections, and before I knew it, it was time to find a permanent place we could call home. I called my husband up one day and said, “It’s time!” and we opened our very first storefront, and Dotsy’s Boutique was born. We eventually out-grew our original location and moved into a bigger space a couple of years ago, but God keeps putting new and exciting ideas in me and we’re ready to continue expanding.
You mentioned that you feel like this was a purpose that had been put in front of you. Can you expand on how Dotsy’s has grown or shifted, and how you’re combining retail with a purpose here in the Texas Panhandle?
I just see a need for women to be empowered and to know that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. Size, color, shape, whatever shouldn’t matter. As long as everyone leaves a store feeling good about themselves. I want our customers to come into Dotsy’s and feel welcomed, celebrated, and valued. I love to put a smile on people’s faces and gift them with that special feeling.
Today we’re meeting in your beautiful, fairly new, location. Give us a run-down of your favorite things in the shop that you’ve meticulously designed, or anything that makes this Dotsy’s Boutique location extra special.
Dotsy’s Boutique recently moved from a different part of Wolflin Square in Amarillo. We desperately needed room to grow, and when we had the opportunity to move into this space, I was thinking about how I want to shop. How do I want to shop as a mom? When I go into a boutique, how do I prefer to browse? So our store is incredibly organized, and laid out more like a department store than a boutique. We have a denim bar, a cocktail and formal wear section, a spot for loungewear and so on. We even have an area for kids to play and read while mom shops!
Our staff of Dotsy Darlings is also well versed in the items we carry, and can help put together an entire outfit. We even added different lighting options in our dressing rooms so that our customers can see firsthand how their garments will look day-in-day-out. I love that when you come into Dotsy’s that you can get an outfit head to toe, even down to your undergarments. You will never leave feeling like you also need to run to five other places to put together an entire look.
This space is deceiving from the outside! It’s actually a really large store, and I’m impressed by the variety you have here! Can you talk a little bit more about what all you stock here at Dotsy’s?
Dotsy’s Boutique offers anything from everyday wear like workout gear, loungewear and pajamas, to cocktail dresses. We have a collection of cocktail dresses that we stock year-round, because we’ve often found there isn’t enough of a variety to shop from in town. We want our customers to feel like they can come in and find an outfit for any occasion, whether you’re running to a track meet or a job interview. We also stock all different types of shoes that are affordable – I have a small shoe obsession, so our shoe section is large but I would love it to be bigger! Our gift items have also expanded, I’m proud to say, so that our clients can come in and find something special for someone special. If you do have a special event to go to, you can obviously come in to find a fit, but you can also grab a birthday or hostess gift in the store as well. You can even get your guy something here, like cologne. Dotsy’s is really a one-stop-shop!
We talk all the time at The Collective about how Amarillo is very spread out geographically, so it can be hard to service all the different parts of the city. Would you share a little bit about inclusivity at Dotsy’s and how you’re bridging the gap for locals in the Texas Panhandle?
One thing that I love about Dotsy’s Boutique is that we offer sizes extra-small through 3X. Our plus sizes are marked with pink tabs on our hangers, and they’re stocked throughout the store so that it doesn’t feel like shopping in an awkward, singled-out section. The other thing that is incredibly important to us is that our clothing and accessories are not just trendy and fun, but also affordable. We want ALL of Amarillo to feel like Dotsy’s is a place they can shop. Not just a certain side of town, or a certain neighborhood, but everyone.
Speaking on that, we love the Dotsy’s collaborations with the High Schools! Tell us more about your “Homecoming Roundup”?
We were wanting to find a way to market ourselves to every area of town, and thought what better way to go about this than to do a collab with the local high schools?! With the Homecoming Roundup, we work with the homecoming queens from Amarillo and the surrounding areas to supply formalwear for their events. Dresses, shoes, jewelry, all of it is gifted to these young students! I think it is an incredible way to share our community, and a wonderful way to see how incredibly diverse our area actually is.
We also design a lot of fun cords for young people to wear to their high schools. We stock styles for every local high school, and some collegiate styles as well. Whether you’re a student or alum, you can find your school style in stock at our location in Amarillo, and we also stock the Bushland High School pieces out at The Collective.
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