Fresh Finds Boutique clothing store in Dixon celebrates 1 year in business

DIXON — A Dixon woman’s third business recently celebrated its first milestone.

Fresh Finds Boutique celebrated its first anniversary last month. Owner Britni Dvorak said the store at 123 W. First St. in Dixon offers high-end women’s clothing from designer labels such as Birkenstock, Judy Blue and Vervet.

“Everyone loves Birkenstocks, but there’s not always a great place to go and try them, and shoes are a hard thing to get right without doing that,” Dvorak said. “The Vervet has also been very popular, and I don’t think anyone else in town is carrying it.

“We also carry a wide range of sizes, whereas some places don’t. So, once the curvy gals realize we have sizes up to 24, they can come on over and try them on.”

Dvorak also owns Fresh Finds Hallmark in Princeton and Pam’s Hallmark and Fresh Finds in Dixon. She started working at the Dixon Hallmark when she was 15 years old and continued through college at Northern Illinois University, eventually buying the store in 2019.

“I always knew I wanted to own my own business,” Dvorak said. “When I was in college, I thought I wanted to be a visual merchandiser, but then you don’t get to do the buying. What if you’re stuck doing a display for something that’s not even something that you like? So, that wasn’t right.

“Then I thought, maybe I want to be a buyer. But if you’re just doing the buying, then you don’t get to help people find that item and do a cute display. So, the best way to combine all of that is to own your own store.”

Dvorak said although she already sold clothing at her Hallmark stores, she wanted a dedicated space and jumped at the chance to open the boutique after a clothing store closed. She said setting up the store was easy and took only three days. However, some unexpected tidings made things a little difficult for Dvorak.

“I just found out I was pregnant after I had already signed up to do this,” Dvorak said. “So, I was extremely sick the whole time I was setting it up. When I am pregnant, I get so sick for the first 20 weeks. This being my second child, I kind of knew to expect that. So, it was a little bit rough, but we made it through.”

Fresh Finds Boutique is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.