Nearly seven years later in 2019, Kerley opened Mercantile on Main, a gift boutique that sells goods branded with the city’s logo as an official brand ambassador as well as products from other local businesses and artisans.
Haute Boutique is now a multimillion-dollar business that celebrates its local roots, and Kerley recently combined the two businesses under one storefront—a historic property located at 503 E. Main St., Round Rock, known as the Xena Voigt house.
Kerley hosted a grand opening for the businesses Feb. 12.
“As a whole, we were growing exponentially, and we knew we just needed more retail space,” Kerley said. “We wanted to do more for the retail customer in downtown Round Rock.”
Both the Haute Boutique and Mercantile on Main signs are displayed prominently in the entryway, with rooms dedicated to different aspects of her businesses.
The Haute room features many of her in-store items that were previously sold in a storefront at the Haute warehouse on Dawson Road, including a specialty tank top called the Hautie Tank, of which she said she has sold more than 10,000.
Like most of the clothing sold at Haute Boutique, Kerley designed the Hautie Tank in tandem with a consultant in Los Angeles who helps coordinate the manufacture of the garments in Mexico.
Kerley said she recently began sourcing her garments in Mexico to avoid supply chain hurdles, as sourcing from countries in Asia led to some delays around the holiday season.
Kerley said she adapted her business model to COVID-19 conditions in other ways.
She created a Facebook group that now has about 11,000 members as well as a proprietary app and website to facilitate online purchases. Kerley also created a free delivery service for customers who live within 20 miles of her warehouse.
Being a one-stop-shop, all orders placed online or through the app are fulfilled and packaged at the Haute warehouse, and either shipped or delivered locally. The warehouse is also where all live sales are streamed and many of the products are photographed.
“We started with myself, my husband, my mother-in-law, my mother and staff that I was legally allowed to have in the building during quarantine,” Kerley said. “We would load up our vehicles, put gloves and masks on, and we would deliver people’s packages to their porch.”
Kerley said the opportunity to create repeat customers outweighed the risk and cost of creating a delivery service. She said some customers have appreciated the service enough to tip their delivery driver, leave them snacks, or offer a kind word when none of it is expected.
“If I’m going to have a platform to sell to people remotely, how in the world am I going to get them their packages and have them feel safe about it?” she said.
Kerley said she believes customers love shopping at her stores because she provides a friendly, personable atmosphere that is missing from most big-box stores. It helps that she operates her businesses in her hometown, she said.
“I went to elementary school here,” she said. “I went to high school here. I went to middle school here. I grew up here. I bought a home here. I pay my taxes here. I raised my family here. And now, I own a business here.”
Haute Boutique, Mercantile on Main
503 E. Main St., Round Rock
Tue.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.,
closed Sun.-Mon.
512-375-1769
www.hautellc.com
Haute Boutique warehouse
25 Dawson Road, Round Rock
512-716-0800
