Sweet spots: Noblesville Square helps smaller, unique businesses grow 

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The Wild Bohemian Boutique had a modest beginning at Noblesville Farmers Market.

“Then we started doing music festivals and pop-ups before we opened the brick-and-mortar store,” owner Allison Behr said. “We were looking for a historical downtown, homey feel, and that’s definitely what attracted (Noblesville Square) to us. I was interested in a mall. Everyone always tells us there is a feeling when they walk in the store. It’s a happy place. It’s kind of like you are walking into an extended closet is what we get told all the time by women.”

Behr, a Noblesville resident, opened the store six years ago at 84 S. Ninth St. Wild Bohemian Boutique had been in business for four years before finding the location on Noblesville Square, which includes many unique stores and is part of a state-designated arts district. Behr said she searched for a while before getting the spot she wanted

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Allison Behr owns the Wild Bohemian Boutique in downtown Noblesville. (Photo by Rachel Greenberg)

“We were in the same building but we were around the corner in a small unit for a year,” she said. “Before that, we were in a booth in the Logan Village Mall. There is nothing like the feeling you can get shopping in person. We try to cater to all body types, which is hard to find in boutiques. It helps when so many body types can shop in a store.”

Behr said the store ships all across the U.S. The shop is primarily an apparel store, but jewelry and gifts are available.

“We also have a local pick-up option,” Behr said. “We’ll bring it out to their cars if they want. We’re really trying to grow our online store, especially because that’s the way of the world now. We have an app that we encourage people to use. Most of our sales are in-store. Our growth has been steady.”

Behr said the store aims to be trendy but with a Bohemian twist.

“It’s kind of hippie and free-spirited but there is still stuff you can wear on a daily basis,” Behr said. “The cool thing about the apparel is we have very unique items that you are not going to find in a shopping mall, but we also have brands that people will recognize like Free People, a higher-end hippie line. We carry that, too. Price ranges are super affordable to top of the price line. I do all the buying for the shop. I feel like 80 percent of our items are from another small business or a business that gives back when you buy their products, so that’s important to us.  We work with a company that gives back to their missions in Haiti. We have small artisans that we buy their jewelry from.

“We try to do most of our gifting stuff from other small businesses and support them.”

For more, visit wildbohemian.com.

Landing a key square spot

Unlike The Wild Bohemian, Vintage Adventures co-owners Chris and Amie Knuckles hadn’t even started searching when a location on Noblesville Square became available. The shop will be Vintage Adventures, which is scheduled to move May 5 into a location at 823 Conner St. A grand opening is set for May 6.

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Chris and Amie Knuckles own Vintage Adventures. (Photo courtesy of Chris Knuckles)

Chris said most of the business started online through Etsy and a couple other places.

“We had two booth spaces in Logan Square Mall for the last year and a half,” Chris said. “We got a following over there and the demand got higher for what we do.”

Chris said only certain items could be sold on Etsy because they’re all handmade on the platform.

“So, if you don’t make it, you are not supposed to sell it on there,” Chris said. “We had some other products we sold at Logan Village that we could not put on Etsy. We created a big following. So, we made the decision to open a space on our own and expand to get a better a local presence.”

Chris said they had been thinking about finding their own space, but hadn’t looked into it much. Then, the space on the square became available in January.

“That made the decision for us,” Chris said. “You don’t get the chance too often for the space on the square to open up. We pulled the trigger and then figured out what we do after that. It’s hard to beat having a retail space on the square. Our downtown community is amazing. Noblesville Main Street is so supportive of local businesses and artists in general.”

Amie said custom wood wall art is what the store usually makes.

“Our shop is going to be a home décor shop,” Amie said. “We make hand-painted earrings and hand-poured candles. Most of our stuff are artisan-type items.”

Amy said the couple both had regular jobs and the creating items began as a hobby when they remade furniture.

“We opened up Etsy an shop during the COVID-19 pandemic when Chris lost his job,” Amie said. “The Etsy shop almost went viral about a year-and-a-half or two years ago. The point of us opening a shop on the square is to create a showroom and have a local presence in downtown Noblesville where we have a lot of clients. It centers around our wall art. The artwork is the predominant thing we sell.”

Debby Rogers, Amie’s mother, and Zack Knuckles, the couple’s son, works in the shop along with two other artist employees, Karah Wells and Tori LeMond. Amie is a part-time nurse.

For more, visit Vintage Adventures page on Facebook.


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