Whim, the Burlington women’s clothing boutique that folded into the now-closed Dear Lucy store last spring, is slated to reopen at its former Church Street location. Ava Stanley, a store manager of Whim from 2018 to 2021, is resurrecting the business at 62 Church Street, the narrow space it oc cupied for about 18 years before merging with Dear Lucy at 50 Church Street. Stanley plans to launch the new Whim in April. She is closing her current children’s clothing shop, Olive Ollie, which she opened last May in another Church Street spot and moved to the old Whim space in December. Stanley, 27, who is about six months pregnant, said she has enjoyed a decent run with kids’ attire but decided a women’s shop is a better long-term business bet and much less complicated, with more straightforward sizing for a single gender. Whim boutique at its former Church Street location Credit: courtesy of Melissa Desautels Stanley said she believes downtown Burlington has plenty of room for more adult fashion: The past few years have seen the closures of shops including Jess and Expressions, as well as the departure of Monelle Vermont, which moved to Shelburne. “I just feel like there’s still so much to be had for women’s clothing on the street,” Stanley said. Whim’s original owner, Melissa Desautels, combined Whim and its inventory under her Dear Lucy shoe boutique banner in a larger Church Street storefront last May. She shuttered the business altogether last month, citing a severe drop in sales and customer traffic since 2024, related to multiple factors plaguing downtown Burlington. The perceptible proliferation of drug use and homelessness, an extensive period of parking-unfriendly construction projects, and a politically driven decline in Canadian tourism have challenged Church Street retailers and restaurants. “I still think there’s so much positive future for Church Street,” said Stanley, who lives in South Burlington. “I see people rallying all the time.” Construction has wrapped up on Main Street and is nearing completion on the long-delayed Burlington Square project, Stanley noted, adding that her mother and sister own Ladybug Creative, a paint-your-own pottery shop on College Street, and have done well downtown. “I just think that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” she continued. “We’re going to come out the other side.” Signage at Whim Credit: courtesy of Melissa Desautels Stanley contacted Desautels as she was winding down Dear Lucy and expressed interest in bringing back Whim. Desautels agreed to turn over the Whim name, website, marketing materials and customer list. Desautels declined to disclose the terms of the deal but wrote in a text that she hopes to use her long experience as a store owner to “focus on helping small retailers strengthen the parts of their businesses that drive profitability” and work as a consultant to other budding boutiques. Whim specialized in U.S.-made clothing brands including Z Supply, Nation Los Angeles, Cleobella and Gentle Fawn. Stanley said she intends to carry most of the same names, as well as a few new ones. She is running a storewide sale at Olive Ollie to make way for Whim inventory. The post Whim Boutique to Reopen in Former Church Street Space appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less