Bleak Boutique opens first storefront in Oshkosh

Stacey Harrison

Contributor

November 3, 2025

OSHKOSH – There’s something new catching eyes on Main Street in Oshkosh.

Opening its doors last month, Owners Jen Steffen and her husband, Sean Swift, said Bleak Boutique – located at 505 N. Main St. – is already drawing a steady stream of curious shoppers.

The couple said the outpouring of support has been overwhelming – “blown away” by the response so far.

“We were not expecting it to be as busy [on opening day] as it was,” she said. 

Steffen said Bleak Boutique’s business tagline is “haunted housewares.” 

“What that really means is, I was always on the lookout for things that are considered to be grown-up goth,” she said. “I started thinking, this is the kind of stuff that I would want in my house. That’s kind of how it all started.”

Steffen said she wanted something that people could “drench their whole aesthetic with” or “just have as an accent piece.”

“I think the Bleak name and haunted housewares might make people think that it’s more of a spooky season thing, but we really do have something for everybody,” she said. “We’re really just in the business of carrying things that make people smile and really speak to people in a way that brings them a little joy.”

Steffen said her background in graphic design helped shape her vision for moving “more into the production side of sourcing – things like linen, bedding and pillows” featuring her own designs.

Though those items were the shop’s starting point, she said Bleak Boutique’s inventory has since grown well beyond them. 

“I love a trinket,” she said. 

Many of the items customers find in the store, Steffen said, are her own designs.

“[For example], I design the blankets, but I have them manufactured professionally in the U.S.,” she said.

That’s how it works for most of what they sell, Steffen said – she designs the products, and they’re manufactured by a partner company.

There is, however, one notable exception, she said: the soap, which they make themselves.

Steffen said she and Sean became “accidental soap makers.”

“We’re up to I think 93 different scents now,” she said. “I always made soap – [all of which are natural and organic] – as a hobby… I got really passionate about making soap because in 2016, I got skin cancer.” 

That experience, Steffen said, made her more mindful of what she was putting on her skin.

So, when she and her husband began selling their products at markets – long before the boutique opened – she said she set out a few bars of soap just to “fill the table.”

To her surprise, Steffen said they sold out right away.

Markets to Main Street

Though the Bleak Boutique storefront only opened a handful of weeks ago, Steffen said the business itself was launched in February 2022, as an online-only shop.

“We primarily started as an online retailer,” she said. 

Over the years, Steffen said they started doing more live markets, pop-up shows and vendor fairs – all while creating and storing their products at home.

“We had always kind of thought about eventually having a larger space,” she said. 

Then in July, Steffen said they found themselves asking a new question: “If we were going to have a storefront, where would it be?”

Oshkosh made the most sense, Steffen said, not only because it’s close to where they live, but also because their past markets and shows there have always drawn “a lot of enthusiasm from people” in the city.

Knowing that if they took the leap and opened a storefront, Steffen said she wanted to be located on Main Street.

“On a whim, I looked up real estate,” she said. 

Though she admits they hadn’t planned for the Bleak Boutique storefront idea to transition from idea to reality so fast – “we had already committed to doing markets every single weekend between then and now” – Steffen said after touring their current space, they knew it was time to “throw caution to the wind and just do it.”

Once the decision was made to take the leap, Steffen said the pace was intense.

After signing a short-term lease in August, she said they balanced weekend markets, ramped up inventory and worked tirelessly to have the store ready for its October debut.

A move on the horizon 

Though the Main Street store only opened recently, Steffen said they are already looking ahead – planning a move to a bigger location within months.

“We signed a three-year lease for the space that Divine Beauty is in now, starting Feb. 1,” she said. 

Bleak Boutique, Steffen said, will move about “40 feet down the sidewalk” to 513 N. Main St., and Divine Beauty will expand by taking over the space where Bleak Boutique is now, along with the other units in that same building. 

Steffen said the new space is about four times larger than their current location, so it will give the business room to grow.

“We’re really proud of [the first space], and we’re really excited about [moving into] the [new] space,” she said. 

After taking the leap to start her own business, Steffen said her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is simple – “go for it.”

“I think the biggest takeaway for me is, even if it feels like the process of getting to where you need to be is going to give you a couple of extra gray hairs, just go for it,” she said. “All you have to lose is time.”

Bleak Boutique is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. 

The boutique is closed Sunday and Monday. 

For more on the products filling the shelves at Bleak Boutique, find the store on social media.