Baileys Harbor boutique merges nautical, Nashville

Sue Grossardt

Contributor

May 5, 2025

BAILEYS HARBOR – What do you get when you merge a love of fashion, a devotion to Door County and roots found in Nashville into one boutique? 

For Co-owners Ally Lawell and Lisa Goldstone, it’s Navy & Nash Boutique (8113 WI-57, Unit 3) – which opened on Baileys Harbor’s main drag late last month.

The entrepreneurial pair said they first met when they worked together at Hugel Haus in Ellison Bay, which is now closed.

“Ally came aboard (at Hugel Haus), we worked together, became friends and figured out that we worked really well together also,” Goldstone said.

Finding the store location, she said, was a bit of luck, as there is not a lot of available retail space in Door County.

Coincidentally, however, Goldstone said she was just driving on Highway 57 through Baileys Harbor and saw the sign.

“I pulled over immediately and called the owner of the property,” she said.

Goldstone said they instantly fell in love with the space.

“We got the location (that we were looking for), and we loved the interior industrial vibe,” she said. “We were really comfortable working with the landlord. There were no other boutiques like ours in the area. Everything seemed to fall into place.”

Though there are other clothing stores in the Door County area, Lawell said they sought to differentiate their boutique – which has a footprint of about 1400 square feet – specializing in clothing accessories.

“As far as women’s clothing, there are a couple of other boutiques but nothing that specializes mainly in clothing accessories, which is exactly what we knew we wanted to bring to the area,” she said.

Goldstone said they are often asked about the shop’s connection to Nashville.

She, in fact, said she is from Music City and currently has family living there.

“My son worked for an artist who was performing in Nashville,” she said. “Ally and I went to Nashville together, and that’s where we really became friends. I love Nashville and go several times a year. We always have so much fun when we’re there. We were just there (recently) at the clothing show.”

From a business concept standpoint, Goldstone said Nashville and country music are very popular right now.

“We wanted our clothing to reflect coastal classics with a fun Nashville vibe,” she said. “We have that southern charm theme along with our Door County theme… It is a theme that is not being done anywhere in Door County. Building on the natural theme includes accessories like leather hats and a candle line that is naturally-based radiance.”

Lawell – who has a background in communications and marketing – said when she moved to Door County, she worked in several different retail shops.

“I fell in love with it up here and ended up staying in the area,” she said.

Lawell said she has dreamed of starting a fashion truck.

“Think of a food truck, but for clothing,” she said. “It was my original idea that I really wanted to do here in Door County. However, some rules and regulations prohibit that from happening. So, (sadly), I had to kind of let that go.”

So, when Goldstone approached her with the idea behind Navy & Nash, Lawell said “I was so excited to get back to retail.”

“I love it,” she said. “I left retail to help my husband at (his) restaurant. While it wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to do, it was a family business and I needed to support that.”

Though her background doesn’t necessarily include fashion design, Lawell said she “loves styling people and helping them find things that feel super comfortable.”

“It is amazing to know people feel good about what they’re wearing,” she said.

In addition to the new boutique, Goldstone said she and her husband are also hotel owners.

“I do like the hotel industry, but I really wanted a clothing store,” she said. “And I could never really do that on my own because it would take me away from the hotel (too much), and I need to be there at least part-time – which is why finding a business partner was timely.”

Lawell and Goldstone said their husbands are very supportive of the boutique and were the grit that went into opening the boutique.

“It really took all four of us to get this store up and running, and even more support came from friends,” Goldstone said. “It’s been a joy, plus it’s been really fun, too.”

She said it will be an interesting first year as they plan to solely share the entire workload.

Even before the doors were open, Lawell said a lot of research went into merchandise.

“We knew we wanted to keep our merchandise very affordable,” she said. “We had conversations with family and friends about what they thought about price point and customer base. We learned that we would need to be affordable, while keeping things all inclusive. We didn’t want anybody to walk in and say, ‘oh, I can’t afford this.’ It was also important to us that our business is open year-round.”

Lawell said visitors to the area are always looking for things to do, and they wanted the boutique to be one of their highlights.

“We wanted to be a part of the things that people like to do up here,” she said. “Just living up here and working up here, we know what people are looking for. Those things were really important to us.”

Lawell said once they started picturing the space and telling people about their planned endeavor, the support and suggestions came pouring out.

“We loved hearing things like, ‘oh, I hope you carry this line of merchandise,’” she said.

Early indications, Goldstone said, are very positive, as the grand opening and first weeks in business have exceeded their expectations.

“We are definitely hitting the mark on a lot of those things,” she said.

Goldstone said the practicality of building inventory is a shared endeavor.

“We each had a set number (for our investment), an equal number, that we invested into the business,” she said. “We ran the numbers before we started, and knew what our budget was going to be. I think we knew what we wanted (in terms of brands) we wanted to carry. Then we began building on that with our own (shared) capital.”

Goldstone said they have enjoyed going to market to see what is new and trending.

She said their new finds from market events in Atlanta and Nashville get shipped to the store in Baileys Harbor, put into the inventory, tagged and finally steamed to rid clothing of wrinkles.

“We do a lot of steaming,” she said.

Welcome to the neighborhood

Family support of their endeavor is one thing, Lawell said, but the outpouring of support from the Door County community at large is quite another.

She said several neighboring businesses have dropped by to welcome them to the neighborhood.

“One neighboring restaurant even sent over pizza, and a little bubbly for their first weekend of business,” she said.

Lawell said her brother-in-law – who is also a Door County business owner – always told her how unique it is to be a business owner on Wisconsin’s peninsula.

“He said ‘when you’re passionate about what you do up here, the community will support you,’” she said. “That has always resonated with me, because I feel that. If you love what you’re doing and you’re providing a service to the community, they will support you, and they will want to see you succeed.”

Lawell said the boutique’s opening weekend last month was very successful and they received positive feedback.

“We looked at each other and thought, ‘you know what, we’re on track – we’re doing this right,’” she said.

Though the gauge for success is at “too early to tell,” Lawell said they are very optimistic as they look forward to the peak season and business growth to unfold.

“We carry quality brands at a good price point, and we will be getting new things every week to keep our inventory fresh,” she said. “We anticipate local and repeat customers who will be on the lookout for new items. There might be a few items that just don’t sell, but we have that built into the budget. That’s just kind of the cost of doing business.”

Goldstone said the goal is to attract a broad customer base, making a meaningful shopping experience that crosses many generations.

“We’d like to think of ourselves as being multi-generational because you have a daughter, a mom and a grandma come in shopping together,” she said. “We want to have merchandise for people of different ages and different styles. We’re trying to incorporate all that.”

Lawell said they have already hurdled over the biggest challenge.

“Our greatest challenge so far was finding the right space, which we have been pursuing since last fall,” she said. “Once we found our spot, everything really fell into place.”

Lawell said being a two-person operation versus sole ownership is something that sets them apart.

“Lisa and I are different ages,” she said. “We have different styles. It’s so cool that we can combine our styles and bring those together. If we both don’t love an item and think it’s not going to work, then it doesn’t come into the shop.”

For more, find Navy & Nash Boutique on Facebook and Instagram.