First came baby, then the boutique; 18 years later, this owner is the mother of retail survivors

Opening her storefront at the age of 23 with a newborn daughter, Meagan Doyle faced double duty as a first-time mother and budding entrepreneur. Eighteen years later, her baby is now grown — and Mom is coming into her own as a retail survivor and seasoned business owner.

Meagan Doyle, center, with daughters Addie Rose and Ava Marie in 2011; courtesy photo

“It’s been a fun adventure,” said Doyle, who operates Addie Rose Boutique — aptly named for her eldest daughter — south Leawood. “I can’t picture doing anything else.”

She’s been through it: styling girls and women for high school graduations, bridal showers, and now for their own experiences as first-time moms, Doyle shared. She’s seen fashion trends come and go (and come back around again).

And she’s survived the 2008 recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic ups and downs of 2024 and beyond.

“The marketing, the accounting, the sales, the merchandising — you have to figure out how to do it all to survive, especially in this roller coaster that we’ve had the past year,” Doyle explained. “Because we opened in 2007, we started out during a recession, essentially — we only had maybe six months to a year before it crashed — I learned how to get lean quick because I had to. I had a loan that I had to pay back and we didn’t have any money. So I had to figure out how to make it work.”

Building customer relationships has also made the difference for Doyle. When she first relocated to Leawood in 2011 from a spot closer to her home in Brookside, the new store wasn’t in great shape, she acknowledged. 

Addie Rose Boutique at 4856 W 135th St., Leawood; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“We probably should have just thrown in the towel and shut down, but I wanted to give it another shot,” she recalled. “I felt like my family deserved it. I deserved it.”

So Doyle decided — with the help of her husband (who is self-employed) and nearby family to help take care of their two young girls — that she would put in the work; no stopping, she continued.

“I did Monday through Saturday, open to close, every day for a year straight, just to build up those relationships and connections and networks and to not have payroll,” she explained. “And it helped tremendously, just because I really got to know my customers and build friendships with them.”

“That was 14 years ago,” Doyle added, “and now I still have customers that started shopping with us in high school, that are married and having children and coming in. So I’ve gotten to go through their phases of life, which is so cool to see.”

Inside Addie Rose Boutique at 4856 W 135th St., Leawood; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Styling KC — not LA or New York

At Addie Rose, Doyle noted, she focuses on styles that are unique yet wearable.

Accessories at Addie Rose Boutique at 4856 W 135th St., Leawood; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“That’s a hard combo,” she explained, “something that’s different, but also something that you can wear in Kansas City. We’re not in L.A. and we’re not in New York.”

Click here to shop Addie Rose.

She also tries to keep the price points below $100 at the 4856 W. 135th St. shop, she continued. Her now-high school daughters help her pick out styles for the shop and her 90-year-old grandma shopped there up until she passed away.

“We have something for everyone,” Doyle added. “I always say you’re going to walk through and there’s going to be stuff you’re going to think is the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen. But then there’s going to be a couple pieces that you might fall in love with, and that’s what makes boutiques fun.”

Overall, Doyle said, she loves working with people and making them feel good.

“I want them to feel like they’re shopping with their girlfriend,” she explained. “I can help them pick out an outfit and style them.”

Growing a family business

Doyle came from an entrepreneurial family — owners of grocery stores in Kansas City — and she always knew she wanted to be in retail, she shared. 

“I was always an arts and crafts kid,” she continued. “I always loved being creative, and I think that as I got older, it translated more into fashion.”

At Exchange City as a student, she remembers being the sports shop owner because she wanted to be in retail. Then, when she was in seventh or eighth grade, she said, she recalls telling her mom plans to launch her own boutique. 

“I wanted to open a store called Forever Young, which is hilarious, because Forever 21 ended up opening,” Doyle noted. “I felt like we had nothing [in terms of entrepreneurship opportunities] for high schoolers.”

She ended up working in her family’s grocery stores through high school and college, and then got jobs at fashion retailers White House Black Market and Banana Republic before working at the Oopsy Daisy boutique.

Meagan Doyle with daughter Addie Rose and husband Sean Doyle; courtesy photo

But when Doyle got pregnant with her first baby at 23, she was at a career crossroads, she acknowledged. That’s when she decided to take the leap and start her own shop.

“My husband was like, ‘I feel like you should do it now,’” she recalled. “‘We’re young, we have nothing to lose. Basically, you don’t want to go work 9 to 5 and be away from her. You could take her to work if you had to or you could have people work at the store.’ It felt like more flexibility — at the time — when we were going through it in our heads.”

While she was pregnant, she noted, they got an SBA loan, negotiated a contract with a Brookside landlord — the little pink house where Oopsy Daisy once operated had closed, opening a fitting opportunity — and she went to market.

“I had Addie in March of 2007 and we took the lease over in May and had a soft opening,” Doyle said. “Then I think we had our big grand opening in June. She was three months old. So it was a quick turnaround. Hence we named it after her. I couldn’t think of anything. My mom was like, ‘Well, why don’t you name it Addie Rose?’ Because we already knew we were naming my daughter that, and I was like, ‘All right. Done. One less thing.’”

“Then I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t really think about future children,’” she added. “So two years later, we had Ava Marie, my second. And everybody’s like, ‘Are you gonna open another store?’ I’m like, ‘We’ll just pay for therapy,’” she joked.

Meagan Doyle and Addie Rose, front, with Sean Doyle and Ava Marie, back, marking Addie Rose’s 18th birthday; courtesy photo

Raised in retail

As a first-time mom and a first-time boutique owner, Doyle said, she went in blind on knowing how to balance both.

Meagan Doyle, right, with daughters Ava Marie and Addie Rose; courtesy photo

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” she explained. “But it’s probably good that we did it when I was young, because you have that stamina to just figure out how to make it work. We walked right into the recession with opening in ’07 and then ’09 was brutal. It was really, really tough.”

“I had this big plan that I was going to have all these workers to help with the store,” she continued. “Then I’m 25, I have no money, and my husband’s a home builder — and they really weren’t selling houses — so thank God for family.”

She ended up bringing the girls into the boutique with her a lot and had friends who would come in to work a few hours to provide her some relief.

“It was challenging to manage both,” Doyle admitted. “I worked for free for a couple of years to dig myself out of a hole, but eventually got into the groove. My kids grew up at the store, steaming and tagging. So it felt like a second home to them, which is good for social skills.”

Doyle’s girls still help out at Addie Rose on Saturdays when they aren’t busy with school activities, she said, and after 18 years, she’s reflecting on the ups and downs she’s endured as a boutique owner.

“The recession was really, really hard because we were new and I didn’t really know what I was doing,” she explained. “I was learning and making mistakes. When COVID hit, I feel like we had stability. People were checking in and they were ordering online. When we reopened, they were immediately ready to shop and support local. It felt like ’21 and ’22 were fantastic years and then inflation hit. Now it seems like 2024 has been almost as bad as ’09.”

“Retail is changing,” she continued. “It’s a lot of subscription rental companies now. Amazon’s gotten really into fashion, and Target has more, even Costco. People are saturated. The internet has made it saturated, so now it’s just focusing on building and keeping up with those customer relationships. I feel like that makes the difference.”

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