VoxVibe

Sisters Haley Walker and Lauren Corwin are used to traveling great distances to sell their cute women’s clothing and accessories. But when they decided to open a permanent new storefront location, they literally just moved across the street in downtown Rock Island.

Walker and Corwin will celebrate the ribbon-cutting for their nearly five-year-old Brick & Motor Boutique, at 1629 2nd Ave., on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at 3 p.m.

Following the grand re-opening celebration, Brick & Motor will be open Saturday, March 4th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Specials include new styles for spring, free gift bags for the first 15 people in store, a pop-up with Link’d by Lindsey (permanent jewelry), and sips and snacks. Their regular business hours going forward will be Fridays noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 to 3.

Sisters Haley (27) and Lauren (31), born and raised in Rock Island and both Bradley University grads, dreamt of opening their own mobile fashion boutique. With a little help from family and friends, their dream finally became a reality in July of 2018.

Brick & Motor originally began as a “mobile” boutique, operating out of a trailer with the inside decorated for selling their boutique clothing and accessories.  The pair would travel within a three-hour radius of their location to events such as farmers markets, community events, university pop-up shops, and more.

In November of 2018, the Development Association of Rock Island (DARI) reached out to offer a storefront incubator space for the business, at the Shoppes on 2nd, 1700 2nd Ave.

“We were planning on using that for about three months, for the winter, since we couldn’t operate the mobile boutique outside.” Walker said.

Brick & Motor is a trendy, affordable fashion boutique offering women’s clothing, original designs by Haley Walker, candles, purses, bags, coats, jewelry, accessories, and much more.

The two sisters operated their mobile boutique and their incubator location in Rock Island for the past four years. This past November, the pair two partnered with DARI to have a pop-up location through the holidays, in DARI’s office location, a 2,500-square-foot space once occupied by The ARTery and MidCoast Fine Arts Gallery West.

These two months were so popular, and they had so much fun in a larger space while hosting other businesses to pop-up in their location, that they wanted to make it their permanent retail store location. The lease was signed and the ladies began working to make the larger store feel like home.

Over four times the space

Liz Tallman, DARI’s vice president, said Monday that the organization renovated the 1629 2nd Ave., ground-floor for offices and meeting space in 2020. Brick & Motor was across the street at Shoppes on 2nd, with just 500 square feet, and they talked about moving to a storefront but weren’t ready. DARI suggested doing a holiday pop-up store in their space, for last November and December.

“It was so successful that they’re moving in here,” Tallman said, noting DARI may move again. “It’s fun stuff.”

“Now we’re adding our personal touch to the store, which before we really couldn’t,” Walker said Monday. “Now we’re adding other small vendors too.”

There are four other small businesses (all women-owned) in the area that have products in the store, including Holistic Wildflowers, from Eldridge, which makes bath bombs, soaps, lotions and scented candles.

“It’s done so well, people love her products,” Walker said, noting they’re made with olive oil. “It’s a good way for us to cross-promote.”

Others in Brick & Motor are:

• Priceless — sister owned shop based in the Quad Cities, selling wooden puzzles, graphic tees and sweatshirts.
• The Altered Edge — based out of the Quad Cities, one-of-a-kind vintage finds.
• Daisies + Sons — based out of the Quad Cities, adorable baby and mama apparel. 

These four permanent businesses don’t have regular storefronts.

The holiday pop-up building was DARI’s idea, Walker said. “We didn’t even know that was an option.”

“It’s nice, ‘cause we have the bigger space and can do way more things here,” she  said.

“It was made for retail,” Corwin said. “That’s amazing. They held meetings in here but most of it was fairly empty. We kept it simple because we didn’t know if we’d stay long-term. It was great and we fell in love with the space. We were like, it was so nice to have real fitting rooms.”

Brick & Motor had the option of going back to their old space if it didn’t work out.

“DARI has been amazing. They’ve worked with us so much, in trying to make this a permanent space for us,” Walker said. “It’s been awesome.”

Moving Rock Island forward

The sisters starred in the 2019 DARI video campaign to promote the city, “Rock Island Forward.”

“We’re very excited for the next five years for downtown Rock Island,” Walker said. “Talking to neighbors and other small businesses down here too, about their plans for their businesses, the grant money they got and the renovation of Arts Alley, that will all be great.”

They started painting the walls last week, but not all walls will get new paint, Corwin said.

“We want it different, so when people come in for the grand opening, we want people to go, ‘Wow, it looks different,” Walker said.

Brick & Motor hopes to have live music for its fifth anniversary later this year, in a stage area back in the corner with lights. They have hosted a yoga class and a candle workshop.

“The extra space is awesome, because we’re going to have more classes,” Corwin said.

Their most popular item has been custom-name necklaces, made by them.

“We almost get one every single day,” Walker said of the $34.99 necklaces. “They’ve done really well.”

“We try to keep most of our merchandise under $50,” Corwin said.

They’re starting to launch new dresses, for Easter, spring break and the spring season. Brick & Motor is offering Taylor Swift-themed clothes (such as dresses, cardigans, sparkly body suits and leather shorts) to go with her new concert tour – Corwin is planning to go to her first one, March 17, in Phoenix, Ariz.

“She has a unique style, I would say – bright colors, butterflies, a lot of things that go with her songs,” Walker said. “Things that play off the Taylor Swift vibe.”

“Just things that would be really fun to wear to her concerts,” Corwin said.

At the old space, they were only open Saturdays and also closed January and February. The new location will be 12 months a year, Fridays noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This Saturday, there will be another small business pop-up just that day —
“Link’d by Lindsey,” from Iowa City, real gold jewelry that is welded on the person.

“You can never undo it personally,” Walker said. “It’s really trendy. Every market we go to, there’s a permanent jewelry booth. You go with your best friend to get a best friend anklet and they never come off.”

Brick & Motor usually brings its 170-square-foot mobile boutique to events March through October, about once a week.

They have a new part-time employee (since November), Annette Schneider, who’s getting her master’s at Augustana in speech pathology this May.

Corwin was previously a buyer for Von Maur for five years and Walker quit her full-time job for a website development company in 2018. Corwin is married with a two-year-old daughter, Mackenzie.

Like many businesses, they were devastated by the COVID shutdowns in 2020.

“At first, we were very discouraged – all the events were canceled, we couldn’t travel to any universities,” Walker said. “people were really pushing to support small and shop online, so our online sales were the best they had ever been. But we couldn’t do any events.”

They got back to reopening the Shoppes on 2nd and in-person events by September 2020, with festivals and farmers markets. They also offered curbside pickups.

Online sales were about four times the volume compared to pre-COVID, Corwin said, noting they shipped to all 50 states (for just $5 per order, regardless of how much they order).

With gas prices, their travel time has shrunk more to within an hour radius, she said.

“We’ve built such a clientele here, so people know us here,” Corwin said. “A lot of times, we can make three times what we would make traveling, so why would we? We’re getting more selective on the markets we go to.”

The top-selling markets they go to are Good Makers Market in Tipton, Iowa; Urban Farm Girl in Rockford, and Freight House Farmers Market in Davenport.

Usually, they would have to shut the store to do big markets on the weekends, but now Schneider can stay in the store while they’re selling in the trailer, Corwin said. “Annette’s going to be helping us online after she moves,” she said. “We’ll have her do some remote work.”

They have a couple friends that can come in to work in the store as well.

“The store front is a bigger priority now, because we have so much square footage,” Corwin said.

The trailer also has been recently renovated, with new flooring and trim, to make it new. “We’re always renovating something,” Corwin said.

People from out of town sometimes message them about coming for private shopping, so that’s also an option, she said. You can find Brick & Motor online HERE, by calling 309-798-8014 or emailing brickandmotorboutique@gmail.com.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sMHRqqyanJOewaqx0meaqKVfo7K4v46lppyZnGK7psPSaKqiq6Sav7R5zqmcp2Wgmr%2Burc2epa1lnKSwosDIqKVmnp%2BnerO7wqRkoquclrulecGuqqKmlajAcA%3D%3D