A new clothing boutique called “The Pineapple Hanger” (202 E. Dewey) is scheduled to open for a few hours on Tuesday, February 22nd to give curious shoppers a taste of what’s to come when they hold their Grand Opening in March.
The Pineapple Hanger began in April of 2018 as an online-only boutique featuring what owner Jaclyn Pierce describes as a “young and fun” fashion that moves quickly and can be unique, even if she’s shopping at the same vendors as other boutiques in town. “We could shop at the same vendor, and we’re still not going to come back with the same stuff, because everybody has a different taste.”
Though she gained a following doing live and online sales, she outgrew the space in her home and needed to expand. Initially, she rented the space next door to Merle Norman thinking it would just be an office and a place to model clothes for her online live shows. “I was just looking for an office,” she said. “But then I just felt really guilty because it’s on Dewey, and it’s the perfect spot for a store, so I started thinking, ‘let’s open a few days a week and see what happens.’”
Though she describes the fashion as “young and fun,” Pierce is careful not to put too strong a label on her typical customer. “I have a really wide range of people that shop with me, some of my models are like in their mid-20s, but then, I’ve got women that shop with me that are in their late 50s and 60s too,” she says. “Because they can feel like they’ve got these young trendy things too, and they can still wear them and look really nice.”
The Pineapple Hanger carries all sizes of dresses, tops, jeans, shoes, “tons of jewelry,”—as she puts it—”I’ve got shorts, hats, bags, a little bit of everything! I don’t go shopping and look for one thing, I go shopping and go ‘oh, I love that,’ and I’ll pull it in.”
The name is more than just a cute attempt at a catchy handle. Pierce says she chose to include the pineapple in the name because of it’s status as the symbol of infertility. “I have infertility and it has been a part of my entire adult life,” she says. “All three of my kids are from IVF (In Vitro Fertilization), and so that’s something that’s just really special to me. I want people to know, in case they’re ever struggling with that. It’s hard.”
Jaclyn Pierce started The Pineapple Hanger in April of 2018 as an online-only operation so that she could work from home. “I was a hairdresser for ten years, and then when my boys started school, I wanted to go to all the parties—because I worked so hard at having these babies, I was like ‘I’m not missing anything,’—and this was something I could do from home.”
Now she’s going to continue selling online but has put that on pause to get the store ready. She got the keys at the beginning of February, right before a snowstorm hit. After two weeks of work, she’s almost ready to go. She’ll start with the Open House on February 22nd from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm and will be open on Thursdays through Saturdays starting March 4th. She also plans to do monthly “fun” events that will feature evening specials.
