SHE BELIEVED SHE COULD, SO SHE DID. Local Kayla Midthun is hoping to reinvigorate the second-hand shopping community for women in the area with her new shop Shine On Boutique.

While locals may recognize Kayla Midthun as part of the family that owns Ramone’s Ice Cream Parlor in downtown Eau Claire, folks will soon get to see another one of her passions shine through: second-hand shopping. Shine On Boutique will be the city’s newest consignment shop when it opens Nov. 9.

As a longtime lover of thrifting and snagging great deals, Midthun realized a gap in the area’s shopping community was left after the closing of the Eau Claire consignment store Encore. “I thought, ‘Oh man, where’s my next go-to spot (going to be)?’ ”

A twist on thrifting and consignment shopping, Shine On will be a gathering space for women to not only shop and socialize, but also to earn money, Kayla explained. The new shop will be a curated experience thanks to its structure – which depends on the filling of up to 40 vendor clothing racks/booths – the idea of it hinging upon the community’s women bringing in their new or gently used clothing and accessories to sell in the boutique. 

“I wanted to try and create a space for all of us women to earn and shop together.”

kayla midthun

shine on boutique owner

“I wanted to try and create a space for all of us women to earn and shop together, and now it’ll need other women to come in (and fill up vending spots),” Kayla explained. “Our main showroom is going to be all women’s wear, and we’ll also have another smaller section that will be children’s items. I have a room for some home decor items too.” 

For clothing consignment, which the boutique will mainly offer, each vendor clothing rack will be rentable for a one to two-week timeline. Women will be able to price their items at home with the tags Shine On will provide – to be hung on the provided racks and hangers – and ultimately be paid out 65% of their total sales. 

All sales will be final, and fitting rooms will be open for customers to use. While home decor will be taken in through a more defined process and split at a 50/50 rate, Kayla wanted to remain further competitive with the clothing consignment payouts. 

“It was a goal of mine to be highly competitive and I feel like, typically, people feel they’re getting a good cut when reselling at a 50/50 (split),” Kayla said. 

Booth rentals are $35 for one week or $65 for two weeks, with Shine On’s goal to continuously be able to offer rotating booths and, therefore, a wide and ever-changing array of items, styles, and sizes. 

Vendors will be able to set up  on Mondays and Tuesdays of each week with Wednesdays being the first shopping day, with the store open 5-9pm. Thursdays and Fridays, Shine On will be open 11am-7pm; Saturdays 10am-5pm; and Sundays 11am-3pm.  

Of course, Kayla said she will see how the demand plays out once the boutique opens, which may change how the hours vary. 

“I think it’ll differentiate from some large thrift chains like Savers or Goodwill in that I really do want it to have that boutique feel,” she said. “This will be a different, curated shopping experience, and I love the idea of it being a real community space.”

Kayla hopes Shine On will also be a gathering and socializing hub for women of the community too, and eventually would like to host events in the space as well. 

Women are invited to reach out to Shine On and apply for a booth to set up their items at through shineoneec@gmail.com. 

Visit Shine On Boutique’s website at shineonec.com and keep up with them on Facebook. The shop will open on Nov. 9 at 2209 Fairfax St., Eau Claire, next to Jim Bob's Pizza in the strip by HyVee.