The “affordable luxury” on display inside EllieMae’s. Photos by Martin Boling
BY RACHEL GLAGO
A decade after it opened in Solsberry, Indiana, offering soaps, perfumes, and similar small items, EllieMae’s Boutique has grown up and found a new home on the Bloomington downtown Square. While the shop still carries candles and soaps, it also offers women’s apparel and accessories as well as gift items. Owner Marcy Cook says her goal is to bring affordable luxury to Bloomington shoppers.
EllieMae’s is located at 101 W. Kirkwood in Fountain Square Mall, the former home of Cook’s other business, Mindset Etiquette, which offered workshops on home design and navigating social situations. But Cook says she missed the boutique environment.
“Mindset Etiquette sort of morphed into this boutique,” says Shelly Nelson, EllieMae’s general manager.
When the former location of MainSource Bank became available in the spring, Cook took the opportunity to get back into the boutique business. In less than six weeks, the bank setting was transformed into a shop with a new layout, wooden floors, freshly painted walls, and sparkling chandeliers.
In June, EllieMae’s Boutique opened its doors with merchandise ranging from home goods and travel accessories to Pandora jewelry and Vera Bradley bags.
“We try to be on trend with some really unique things,” Nelson says. “We’re also proud of our home state and our hometown, and we like to have that little bit of local flare, too. So, we’ve got our Kirkwood Avenue and Indiana things.”
The Vera Bradley Indiana University handbag is prominently on display. To further show its local pride, EllieMae’s Boutique created its own Pandora charm featuring a design of the famous fish weathervane that sits atop the Monroe County Courthouse.
Reception to the store has been very positive, Nelson says. “We’re getting busier and busier all the time,” she says. “This is a store with something for everyone, and it would be hard to come in here and not find something to get for someone else, too.”
