Boutique expands to Bolivar

After debuting less than a year ago in Ava, The Cattle Baron’s Boutique LLC added a shop in Bolivar.

The women’s boutique, which sells a mix of clothing, purses, jewelry, home decor and antique furniture, opened May 7 at 201 S. Main St. on the Bolivar square.

“I feel really lucky and blessed to open a second store. It’s hard to open even a first store,” said owner Hannah Fisher.

Fisher said she had been seeking to add a second shop to the Ava boutique she launched in June 2019. When space became available in Bolivar, where she’s lived for the past seven years, the 2016 Southwest Baptist University graduate took the opportunity.

“It was just a small dream that’s now turned into a very big reality,” Fisher said, noting she spent around $15,000 in startup costs for the Bolivar shop.

Fisher said the store also rents booths out to several vendors, who stock items at the 2,200-square-foot boutique. Booths range from $150-$200 per month, depending on size.

“I like to describe it as all things Western and ‘boho,’” Fisher said of the style that draws on bohemian influences. “It’s a one-stop shop.”

She’s on a month-to-month lease with landlord and friend Carol Bullard for an undisclosed rate. The retail space most recently housed The Well 414 LLC, she said, which moved to 218 W. Jackson St.

Fisher’s mother, Vanessa Johnson, runs the Ava store, with help from friend Levie Watterson. Fisher said she’s the mother of an infant, which makes treks to Ava more difficult and added to the appeal of running a local shop. She’s currently the Bolivar store’s lone employee.

Aside from her boutiques, Fisher also works full time as a social worker for the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division. She hopes to eventually have sole professional focus on the shops.

“That’s definitely my passion to be at the store,” she said. “I want it to be something different. I want people to say, ‘Wow.’”