Lizzy's Pink Boutique moves to Sycamore storefront

SYCAMORE – The brick-and-mortar store for Lizzy’s Pink Boutique opened in Sycamore at the end of October, but the business was more than a year-and-a-half old by the time its State Street doors were unlocked.

Owner Lizzy Oparyk first worked out of her home selling women's clothing and accessories.

“I just had a passion for making women feel good,” she said.

The home boutique began in June 2016, and the appointment-only business proved so popular that enough word spread to where she was soon working full time out of her home. Oparyk partnered with designers and jewelry stores from across the country.

According to a press release from the business, the boutique has customers not just from DeKalb County, but people from as far as Chicago and Indiana come to the store, and online orders come from across the country.

While the business has an online presence, including a website, social media accounts and blog, Oparyk said most of her business is done in the store, although she does get some business from the web.

“We get orders online but not many,” Oparyk said. “It’s not our bread and butter.”

Her husband, retired Harvard police officer Andrew Oparyk, said people are leaving the web for brick-and-mortar experiences.

“Especially in clothing, people want to feel and touch what they’re buying,” he said.

At the store, family and friends help out. Andrew lends a hand at the store, as do their sons when they can. “We have one neighbor that won’t let us pay her,” Lizzy Oparyk said.

Oparyk said she doesn’t mind the work because of the passion she has for the business.

“We’re here from open to close,” she said. “We spend so many hours here.”

The store carries sizes from extra-small to 3X, Lizzy Oparyk said. She said she wants the store to be somewhere where all women can shop. “With those larger sizes, a lot of boutiques don’t carry them.”

Shoppers at the boutique receive personal attention from the employees in the shop. Oparyk said it’s not about making a sale right then. Not everyone has to find something when they come in. Oparyk said she is honest with her customers, and will tell them if a piece of clothing doesn’t look right or isn’t the most flattering.

“Even if they don’t buy something then, a lot of times they’ll come back,” she said. It was a practice that began when she was working out of her home. If she didn’t have something a customer wanted, she would order it.

Eventually, the business outgrew her home. It had been the plan to move to downtown Sycamore from the beginning.

“She always wanted a space downtown,” Andrew Oparyk said. The necessity to move to a larger space coincided with another business moving out.

Andrew Oparyk said he was talking to the owners of D&D Jewelers when they mentioned they might be relocating. “They said the space might be up for rent soon.”

So when the jewelers changed addresses in October, Lizzy's Boutique moved into the spot at 303 W. State St. Doors opened for business Oct. 24, but Lizzy's Pink Boutique held the grand opening Nov. 11.

Unlike when Oparyk was working out of her home, appointments are not necessary at the new storefront. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The store also will have Sunday hours during the holiday season.

Lizzy’s Pink Boutique is at 303 W. State St. in Sycamore, across from the Sycamore City Center.