Leah MacNealy and Corri Zepponi have always wanted to open and run a retail store.
The sisters’ love for fashion and shopping dates back to their younger days in Indianola, and thanks to a lot of hard work and research, their dream is finally coming true.
“We’ve always wanted to do a store,” MacNealy said. “When this became available, we said we better do it now or we’re never going to do it.”
Lavender Lane will open its doors at 100 Front St., Suite A in mid-August.
The 8,000-square-foot space will not only be home to the ladies’ clothing and accessory business, but sections of the building will be leased to several other vendors, bringing a variety of unique services to downtown Indianola.
Lavender Lane will sell women’s clothing, shoes, purses, jewelry and some active wear.
Mary Clyde King, the ladies said, will have Sprout & Co., a children’s clothing store.
Greenville’s Cypress Designs, a home décor business, will have space in the store, as well as Whitney Brewer, a hair stylist, who will open Locks Hair.
Sydni Carman will open Magnolia Tan, Melissa Hughey will operate Lemon Baum Yoga & Wellness, and Martha Catlette will have a space for her business, Green Spot Wellbeing.
Prior to launching the high-end boutique Lavender Lane, MacNealy was a school teacher, and Zepponi was a stay-at-home mom.
With Zepponi’s children getting older, the timing was perfect for the two to start their own business.
They hired a consultant, who worked with the pair for over a year, Zepponi said.
“When the consultant saw the space, he said ‘there’s no way you need 8,000 square feet,’” Zepponi said. “We needed more like 1,200 square feet.”
That’s when the two began to brainstorm about ways they could utilize the large space.
“We weren’t going to take on everything, but we wanted to offer it,” Zepponi said.
MacNealy said this space will provide downtown Indianola with something unique, and it will provide another shopping destination for the area.
“We want to bring people in,” MacNealy said. “It’s not just simply for clothes.”
Lavender Lane has had a sort of soft opening this summer, and the company’s Facebook page is active, but MacNealy and Zepponi are looking forward to officially launching this endeavor in August.
