“This isn’t a flea market, and it’s not a garage sale; this is boutique shopping,” Assistant Manager Mary Joseph said.
Painted Tree Boutiques is a unique concept that Joseph said gives local business owners who may not otherwise be able to afford a traditional brick-and-mortar storefront a physical space to showcase their craft.
Vendors can rent booths on an annual basis, while Painted Tree Boutiques staff take care of maintaining booths, assisting customers and conducting transactions. Many vendors, Joseph said, only come in on a weekly basis to restock their booths, which allows them to continue doing other markets and craft shows.
“We have two types of vendors: people who have never been in business before and seasoned business owners who had been in commercial real estate properties before, but the overhead expenses were killing them, and they still wanted to be in business,” Joseph said.
With Painted Tree’s model, Joseph said vendors do not have to worry about costs associated with facility maintenance, security and staffing and can instead focus on their products.
“We’re extremely diverse,” Joseph said. “I think there’s something here for everybody; there’s very few things that we don’t carry.”
Vendor products at Painted Tree Boutiques range from jewelry made from antique china and lamps made from musical instruments to hand-sewn children’s clothing, local honey and even furniture.
“It’s like Christmas here every day because we get to see new things all the time because the vendors aren’t heavily stocked,” Joseph said. “It’s very boutique shopping, and the experience should be that where it’s not just run-of-the-mill, you-can-get-it-anywhere type of products.”
Since opening on FM 1960 in February, the 170-booth marketplace has already cultivated a vendor waitlist, Joseph said. While Painted Tree Boutiques has about 25 locations either already opened or planned across the U.S., including three in the Greater Houston area, Joseph said no two marketplaces are identical.
“You can go to any Painted Tree, and you are not going to see the same thing because of the local vendors,” Joseph said. “We want to make it interesting for the customer.”
Painted Tree Boutiques
5407 FM 1960, Houston
281-721-4217
www.paintedtree.com
Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
