Small Business Interview By Jeremiah Samuelson

 

Willow Boutique - Owner Kelly Castady

 

 

Last week I sat down with Kelly Castady, L.A. to La Crosse transplant and owner of Willow Boutique, and asked her about how her chic women’s clothing store came to be and why she chose to work with Olson Construction Inc. for the renovation of her space.

 

Q: What is your name, name of your store, and the type of store?

A: My name is Kelly Castady, the store is Willow Boutique, and this is a Women’s Clothing Store.

 

Q: Have you ever had a store like this before?

A: Nope. First time. This was my first commercial space.

 

Q: What was this space like when you acquired it?

A: When I signed the lease, it was in pretty rough shape. It was used as an art studio. The floors were really beat up, the ceiling was in really bad shape.

 

Q: How did you hear about John Olson and Olson Construction Inc.?

A: John and his family were actually our next door neighbors at the time.

 

Q: So how did you get the ball rolling with the renovation?

A: I went to John first because we had a personal relationship. So he came down here and I just told him the ideas that were in my head. I showed him a lot of pictures on Pinterest, which I’m sure is every contractor’s worst nightmare. Oh yeah, please show me something on Pinterest that doesn’t exist in real life! But I told him what I wanted. I said I want a really comfortable, open space, I want a gigantic table down the middle, and I want it clean and open and modern but still rustic enough to fit with the age of the building.

 

Q: So how did it go from there?

A: He basically did all of that. He did everything we wanted him to do.

 

Q: Tell me about some of the custom work I see here.

A: I showed him a picture, on Pinterest again, of some shelves, and he said Yeah, that’s great, that doesn’t exist, but I can build it for you. He built all of this. And then with the ceiling, the black was my idea, but adding the trim, how he trimmed it out, looks really cool.

 

Q: How would you describe the process of working with John throughout the project?

A: We really really worked together. He listened to exactly what it was that I wanted, he didn’t try to talk me out of things. He told me when things weren’t realistic. He answered my phone calls, he answered my texts, he got it done on time and within budget, and you can’t really ask for much more.

 

Q: What else did you enjoy about working with John?

A: There were a lot of things that were John’s idea, like putting this tile here. He really did have good ideas. When I would talk to him about things, he would be like Well why don’t we do this? And that’s cool because you want your contractor to have a good sense of design as well.

 

 

Willow Boutique offers a variety of clothes and accessories for the modern, fashion-loving, stylish woman. Located on historic Pearl Street, make sure to check them out the next time you find yourself in Downtown La Crosse.