The store celebrated its fifth anniversary April 10.
Johnson said she started as an online shop in 2017 under a different name selling children’s items. At the time, she was working full time in the oil and gas industry and started the children’s line as a way to supplement her income. After being online for two years, she bought a storefront in Magnolia and changed from being a children’s line to offering mainly women’s clothing and accessories—therefore leading to the name change.
Johnson said working her daytime job and running the storefront meant she was working seven days a week and putting in 60-70 hours. She said it was a difficult time as she could not spend as much time with her son as she wanted to.
“I wanted to put family first. I’ve just always had to do it [be the sole earner]; I’ve been on my own since I was really young,” Johnson said.
One year later, she was laid off from her full-time job, which she said turned out to be the best thing so she could focus on her store. In June 2020, Johnson opened another location in Tomball and continued to run the two locations for six months. However, she said she could not maintain the two storefronts due to building issues in Magnolia and lack of staff. Johnson said she loves her Tomball location, but she has plans to triple her space so she can offer more items.
Johnson said the Tomball location has flooded twice, once from a hole in the shop’s ceiling and most recently during the February 2021 freeze when a pipe burst and ruined merchandise—bringing new challenges and financial hardship.
“My son keeps me going,” she said.
Johnson said she now works 40 hours a week and has a weekend staff, so she rarely works weekends and typically stays closed on Mondays as well as Tuesdays during slow seasons.
Customers love that the shop offers a wide range of sizes—from petite to 3X—at affordable prices, Johnson said. She talks to and interacts with customers while they browse so she knows what they want her to sell in the store.
This also allows her to act like a personalized stylist for customers, Johnson said, as it can be easy for some people to miss items with so many items to browse in a smaller store.
“Some people don’t want to talk, so that’s why I just listen. And then I hear them, and I’ll just say, ‘I’ll put a couple of things in the dressing room for you if you feel like trying it,’ but I’m not real pushy about it,” she said.
Jayden Layne Boutique
309 Market St., Ste. B, Tomball
832-588-3566
www.jaydenlayne.com
Hours: Tue.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sun. noon-4 p.m.
