Mvarta Pate founded Marta’s Boutique in a small storefront when she was just a teenager living in Huntsville.
At age 19, Marta knew she wanted to make a living out of what she loved—fashion—and in 1982 she opened her boutique. Her husband, Steve, shares her entrepreneurial spirit and owns Strike LLC in The Woodlands.
Marta closed her boutique’s doors for just one week to move from Huntsville to the Panther Creek Village Center in 2001, where she operates today.
“I went into the business knowing nothing, but I have lived it and learned it,” Marta said.
Marta’s Boutique sells a wide variety of women’s apparel, jewelry, shoes and accessories with more than 40 different labels to choose from on any given day, Pate said. The store also offers a complimentary gift-wrapping station where Marta’s staff will wrap purchases.
The boutique is also a certified Brighton Heart Store, which means it sells numerous Brighton products, including handbags, watches, charms and apparel.
“It’s important to customers who shop at boutiques to see that what we have is not sold in department stores,” Marta said. “People don’t want to see the same thing everywhere they go. That’s why they shop here.”
Marta credits the store’s success to repeat patrons with whom she and her staff strive to form relationships, she said. The staff helps customers decide on an entire outfit, including choosing the right styling and accessories. Items are arranged around the store in a way so that they are matched with complementary items—such as shirts with pants or dresses with specific necklaces—for a more streamlined and easier shopping experience, she said.
Customer service is a top priority for the staff, Marta said, and the store will open before and after its posted business hours for customers who request an appointment due to extenuating circumstances.
Store manager Jodi Milstead said customers often come to the store just to visit with Marta and the staff.
Milstead said Marta goes to the Dallas Market Center four times a year and hand picks items for the store with specific customers in mind. Marta bases many of her choices off of their preferences.
“We focus on our customers and doing whatever we can do to please them,” Milstead said. “We do a lot of special ordering if a customer is looking for something we don’t have in-store.”
