Charlees Boutique offers the unique

Boulder City business at home in historic hotel

Although Elephants Are Forever may have sunk because of a lack of business, Charlees Boutique, located across the second-floor hallway in the Boulder Dam Hotel, is not encountering too many problems trying to keep afloat.

"I've had my ups and downs since the business opened last January," owner Charlene Phillips said. "But a lot of Boulder City people support me, and a lot of tourists on the way to the museum stop by, too."

Phillips's 350-square-foot unit, which she rents for $350 a month from the Boulder Dam Hotel Association, is, in a word, eclectic.

"I'm small, so what I put in here is meant to accommodate the hotel (guests and visitors)," Phillips said. "So, I decided on antiques and vintage pieces and to display lingerie. I even have a dressing room back here in the corner. Really, pretty much everything you find in here is for sale."

No single item is a constant or consistent seller, since there are many one-of-a-kind items, as well as a diversity in multiple-line items such as candles, powders and soaps.

"I've really prided myself in picking out totally unique pieces," Phillips said. "Who's to say what will sell? One day I'll sell lingerie and on another day I'll only sell antiques. It just depends on the group that comes in here."

Phillips lives in Boulder City near the hotel. At the time she opened the boutique, she also owned a coffee bar in a Studio One beauty salon at Patrick Lane and Annie Oakley Drive in Las Vegas, but running More Than a Latte Cafe and the gift shop proved too much.

"I said I'd never open a shop in Boulder City, but this is an easier way of life," Phillips said, "I live around the block and I wanted to be closer to home, so I ran the coffee bar for a couple of months before closing it down."

Phillips said the difficulty in turning the shop into a thriving, hugely profitable business is that "nobody knows there's shops back here." But since she's added the words, "on the second floor" to all her advertising and banners, the foot traffic hasn't slowed down.

"Getting out from behind the counter helps, too," Phillips said in describing why some hard-to-find shops succeed and others fail. "You've got to get out and mingle with the customers if you want to sell things."

Things have progressed so well for Phillips that she's branching out with bridal showers.

While registering a shower, Charlees also can offer customers cami-panty sets by Julie Intimates; lavender, rose or rosemary soap powders by the scoop; embroidered silk sleep masks; or any of the three items from Scrub Your Butt Soap Co.

The SYBS Co. offerings include Purple Goddess, a goat milk soap; Stinky Hippie, a lavender and patchouli body wash; and a gel soap called Volcanic Ash Wash, which comes in tea tree, spearmint, lavender and grapefruit scents.

Phillips said while things are going well currently, she's keeping her options open, since her one-year lease is up in January and her rental rate of $1 per square foot may be increasing to a point that's more comparable to rents on Nevada Highway.

"If we stay here, I'll probably renew my lease," Phillips said about her future, which may include the prospect of relocating outside Nevada. "My husband and I are going to Alabama, and while we're there, we might check things out."


<<--[back]