The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Women’s boutique to open fourth store in five years
When Jen Neutz graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2013, she wasn’t sure what profession to pursue.
Neutz said she often mentioned how she wanted to start her own store. But the native Louisvillian said she didn’t start taking steps to turn that into a reality until she received encouragement from a family member.
“Finally, one day, my mom was like, ‘Well just stop saying it, write a business plan and do it,” Neutz told me.
She rose to the challenge: In April 2016, the then-23-year-old Neutz opened Darling State of Mind, a fashion and gift boutique, on 1321 Herr Lane #187 in the Westport Village shopping center.
Five years and two additional stores later (one store is at 12951 Shelbyville Road #104 in Middletown, and another is at 600 Shelbyville Road #143 in Shelbyville Road Plaza), Neutz is getting ready to open the fourth Darling State of Mind location at 601 S. Hurstbourne Parkway.
Neutz first had the idea for the new store after a childhood friend’s family reached out to her about the open space off South Hurstbourne. She said she plans for the store to open in mid-September and will hire additional employees. (Neutz noted she usually has around 20 seasonal employees for the company at a given time, mostly young women in college).
Darling State of Mind sells a wide range of women’s apparel, from jeans to rompers, accessories and gifts, such as candles and books. Neutz told me she and an associate travel to apparel and gift markets four to five times a year to gather inventory.
As for the past year, when many businesses were rocked by a coronavirusspurred decline in in-person visitors, Neutz said the company was prepared with a website and approximately 10,000 followers they could reach on Instagram.
But the year was still certainly challenging, Neutz said, as she had to temporarily lay off workers.
“I mean I was pregnant” during the pandemic, Neutz told me. “Honestly, it was a hot mess, and I’ve never worked harder in my life.”
And as in-person shopping began to pick up thanks to widespread COVID-19 vaccine availability, Darling State of Mind faced another challenge: Its Instagram was hacked four months back, Neutz said.
She told me she worked “really hard” to gain the social media following, and subsequently customers, for the store, and now “we’re trying to rebuild what we lost.” The store now has a new Instagram handle, darlingstateofmindvip, which had roughly 2,600 followers as of Tuesday afternoon.
As always, thank you so deeply for your readership — it truly means so much. If you have any business openings or closings news that you think I should know, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at webupdates@courier-journal.
And along with reading our print editions, please make sure to consistently check courier-journal.com if you want up-to-date information on a wide array of topics that will impact you throughout the Derby City.