Friends open JJ's Boutique in Sun City

Golf cart parking right up front, was only one of the selling points when Joyce Kreus and Joanne Pierce chose the location for their new Sun City Summerlin women's shop JJ's Boutique.

Proximity to home and their preferred customers were the primary reasons the two friends selected the spot inside Sun City at 9330 Sun City Blvd., just off Del Webb Boulevard.

The boutique opened Oct. 4, but the partners began work on their business plan in July. Once the site, a former insurance office, was chosen, the women broke out the hammers and nails and worked alongside handymen to fix much of the place up themselves.

The whole shop was done pinching every dime. The partners built dressing rooms in the old back office using discarded grocery store partitions as a base for walls. Ornate discount fabric was stitched into dressing room curtains hung with donated ribbon. Lamps from wholesale stores joined hand cut mirrors to round out the decorations.

Even the lawyer who drew up the business documents for the duo served as a decorating boon when he offered to sell the new business owners chairs and filing cabinets he no longer needed.

The one remaining remnant of the old insurance office is a golf course mural inside the front door.

"I love to golf, so we decided to keep it," Kreus said.

For Kreus, the boutique is a return to her roots. The Omaha native ran a boutique in her home state for more than nine years before she sold it and moved to Las Vegas with her husband.

When Kreus' marriage ended, she decided to stick around. She came out of retirement and found a job at a local senior housing complex.

At the senior complex, Kreus found more than a job, she found a friend in her co-worker Pierce.

"We're both the sisters neither of us ever had. We both had brothers, but we always wanted sisters. And now we've both finally got one," Kreus said.

Pierce, a Tennessee native, worked as a legal assistant for years. When her husband died, she moved to Las Vegas to help her single son with his children.

Now that Pierce's son has remarried, she's turned her attentions to the boutique business.

JJ's Boutique is no chain store. Kreus contracted with a few of her old Omaha suppliers, but much of the stock was hand-selected by the two women at the MAGIC fashion trade show held in Las Vegas.

"My suppliers told me I was lucky. They had to get on a plane to come here," Kreus said.

The clothing, handbags, jewelry and accessories were bought with Sun City women in mind.

"We have something for everyone," Kreus said. "We have fashionable styles to appeal to the women of Sun City and we have styles that younger women from outside Sun City will want to see, too."

"We have a good selection of jewelry, silver particularly," Pierce said.

While the products are similar to those found in high-end Las Vegas Strip boutiques, Kreus is determined the prices won't be unreasonable.

"We want prices to stay affordable. We're not going to let the prices skyrocket and then put a sale sign on the front door. We want things to stay high-end but affordable."

Both partners are looking for more than just profits.

"Just jump in your golf cart and come here to talk," Kreus said. "We'd love it if you buy something, but you don't have to. We want friends, not just customers."

Pierce will be lucky if she ever makes a profit. So far, the grandmother spends most of what she makes on clothes.

"My only problem is keeping my partner from buying everything so that there's nothing to put out on the floor. I have a built-in shopper," Kreus said.

"I sure do love the stuff," Pierce said.

Both partners plan to meet local needs with wish lists, answers to special requests and personal phone calls when just the right item comes in.


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