Less than a year after closing its brick-and-mortar store,
there are more changes in the works for Eye Candy Boutique. Owner Alinda Hale has merged her business with Deep South Pout, an online boutique based in
Mississippi.
“It all came about because in the boutique word, everybody is familiar with everybody,” Hale said. “I’ve run into them a few times at markets, and one of the owners also works for our POS system. So when they came to me and made the offer, I knew they were good people.”
“After closing the storefront and doing everything online, I
kind of lost my spark for what I was doing. It wasn’t the part that I love, and
I lost the joy in it,” said Hale, who noted that she was spending more time on
administrative tasks and back-end operations for the business.
When Deep South Pout approached her about the idea of a
merger, “It took me a while to make up my mind if I was ready to close that
chapter.” However, Hale ultimately decided that it would allow her to return to
focusing on the aspects of the business that she enjoyed the most.
As of March 15, Hale is no longer operating under the Eye
Candy brand and has encouraged her followers to download the Deep South Pout
app instead. But she will continue to engage with her customer base in various
ways.
“I will be very involved; I will be live on social media and
have spots during the week that I will be doing live,” Hale said. “I am also
going to be their market coordinator. I will go every four to six weeks to a
different location (nationwide) and coordinate all the lives on their apps for
all of our customers. And part of my live team that has been with Eye Candy is
coming with us.”
Hale also has plans in the works for a new business venture.
“We will still have a graphic T-shirt company,” she said, noting that line was
a popular seller. “I haven’t decided on the name yet. But there were 18,000
people in the (Eye Candy) VIP group, and those are my socials that I still own.”
While Hale it said was hard for her to make the decision to
merge Eye Candy with another business, “the way the community is embracing it
is crazy.” She also said it will enable her to utilize her business skills without being burdened by all of the operational
responsibilities.
“It’s time for me to be more present in my family’s life but
still get to do what I love,” Hale said.
