Local boutique celebrates prosperity through perseverance

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

April 21, 2025

WAUPUN – Chic Tique – a home decor, furnishings and clothing boutique – is celebrating two years of operations since its Owner, Kristen Schultz, said she expanded her business from one retail location to two.

According to its Facebook page, Chic Tique – with locations in Ripon (231 Watson St.) and Waupun (300 E. Main St.) – is a retail store offering “an eclectic mix of home furnishings, decor, gift and boutique items.”

As a former graphic designer with nearly two decades of experience, Schultz said she’s always had a passion for “decorating and home decor.”

“I have a fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, so I guess I’ve always been passionate about art and decorating, color and textures,” she said.

Prior to pursuing business ownership, Schultz said she first decided to leave her corporate job of 18 years to be a stay-at-home mom.

“When I had my third child, I decided I was going to stay at home,” she said. “One thing led to another, and that’s when I opened up the business at home. (It) just kept growing from that point.”

First operating out of an “old granary” on her property, Schultz said opening a storefront was always a dream of hers – though she had to wait until her children grew older to make it come true.

“I’ve always wanted to open (a) brick-and-mortar (store), (but) I had to wait until my youngest was (older),” she said. “It had to all fit into the right time frame.”

Once her children reached a more self-sufficient age, Schultz said she took the leap and opened her first storefront location in Ripon in 2021.

“I’ve been there for four years,” she said. “I signed (the lease) in November (2020), and we moved (in and) opened up in January (2021).”

Now, this month – following the grand opening of her Waupun store in March of 2023 – Schultz said she and her Chic Tique team are celebrating two years of operating two locations.

Globally sourced, hand-picked

After successfully operating her one storefront for several years, Schultz said she realized she had to look outside of Ripon for expansion opportunities.

“I wanted to grow to a bigger facility – a bigger building – to offer more,” she said. “My Ripon location is small and intimate, and there wasn’t really opportunity for growth in Ripon due to building sizes. Everything is pretty small in downtown Ripon, and, at that time, there wasn’t anything available.”

Having grown up in Waupun – a neighboring city roughly 20 minutes from Ripon – Schultz said it made sense for her to look to that community for expansion opportunities.

“I grew up in Waupun, so I have a lot of family there, a lot of friends (and) a lot of my customer base was from there,” she said. “A beautiful building (there) came to my attention, and we decided it was a great place to expand to.”

Two years following the opening of her second location in Waupun, Schultz said “it’s been amazing.”

Stocking goods from vendors “all over the world,” Schultz said there’s something hand-picked for everyone that visits either of her shops.

“Everything that is in my store is hand-picked by me – I don’t have anybody buying for me,” she said. “So, that’s a big difference than walking into a big box store, per se, where they’re just getting stuff shipped in from all over… I try to be unique.”

Schultz said she also utilizes national markets and trade shows to expand her horizon and bolster the stores’ product offerings.

“I go to a market in Atlanta every January, (and) I can’t even describe how big it is,” she said. “All the vendors (I’m interested in) are there…. I (also) go down to the Chicago (Collective Women’s Edition show) to order my clothing.”

Attending trade shows geared toward women’s clothing is something Schultz said she plans to do more often as she tries to expand the stores’ apparel selection.

“We’re going to try to venture out to Vegas this year, because… we’re expanding more and more into the clothing market, just due to the fact that people are very receptive to it,” she said. “It’s kind of a new, fun adventure for me… Home decor will never leave Chic Tique – because I love it too much – but I do foresee (adding) a (few more products) on the boutique side.”

On top of providing a unique, hand-picked selection of home goods, furnishings and clothing, Schultz said her customers appreciate the top-notch service they receive at either Chic Tique location.

“You come in and you are going to get exceptional customer service,” she said.

Personal tragedy

When she opened Chic Tique’s first location in 2021, Schultz said she was met with immediate enthusiasm as people freed from the COVID-19 lockdown sought experiences outside of their homes.

“I signed (my lease) when everybody was starting to open back up,” she said. “Mask (requirements) were still in place, (but), to be honest with you, after opening back up, I think business really boomed at that point. People were ready to get it out, they were sitting in their houses for a long period of time (and) they were ready to redecorate.”

However, around the time she opened Chic Tique’s Waupun location, Schultz said she was struck with personal tragedy after her firstborn daughter – Johanna – passed away.

“My oldest daughter was a huge part of the business,” she said. “She passed away right when I opened up the Waupun store.”

Even through the tragedy of losing Johanna, Schultz said she kept her head high and her sights set on growing the business that had meant so much to her and her daughter.

“With the help of my family, we just pulled through it, and I kept going,” she said. “Now I have a team of about nine employees.”

Schultz said Chic Tique provided her a reprieve and a sense of comfort as she navigated through the difficulty of losing Johanna – with employees growing into close friends and even family.

“I have one employee, Courtney, who is my store manager, and she is my right-hand person,” she said. “She helps me with pretty much everything day-to-day, and I couldn’t do it without her.”

Without her business and the community it provided her, Schultz said “it would’ve been a lot harder” to process the passing of her daughter.

“It really helped me get through some terrible times,” she said. “(The store provided me) an escape – a place just to go and kind of free my mind.”

To learn more about Chic Tique and its product offerings, visit its Facebook or chictiquegirls.com.