FROM PASSION TO PRACTICE

New Style Cellar boutique grew from owner’s ambitious beginnings during the pandemic

Lifelong Mentor resident Lindsey Jones recently turned her self-proclaimed “shopping problem” into a solution with the opening of Style Cellar, her new fashion and accessories boutique.

Located at 8492 Mentor Ave., Style Cellar officially opened its doors in the beginning of June.

The boutique not only carries a wide range of women’s clothing, accessories and shoes, but some children’s toys, home goods and locally-sourced snacks as well.

“I decided to make a business, because I love shopping,” Jones said. “So now I shop for everyone else, and it just works. It’s my whole life.”

Jones began her business journey selling apparel for a separate company seven years ago and built up a customer base over time before venturing off on her own and launching Style Cellar online right before the pandemic hit in spring 2020.

Jones explained that the basement of her Mentor home served as her “warehouse” initially, and she

“That’s our main thing, we want to be a boutique for every body type. ... we try to really make it so there’s something for everybody.” "—Lindsey Jones, owner

The vast majority of her customers were local, Jones explained, and would just pick up their orders at her home — but soon there were so many orders, Jones realized Style Cellar needed its own location.

would hold livestreams through the Style Cellar mobile app a couple times a week to show off products— which was a big hit over quarantine.

“I started that (the livestreams), and it was great during the pandemic, because nobody was leaving to go to the store,” she said, “It was just them on their couch, it was perfect.”

Style Cellar’s online sales took off from there, and eventually, Jones’ basement began to feel a bit cramped — every single spot of the 1,000 square-foot basement was full of boxes, she recalled. She said 80 to 90 percent of her sales come through the boutique’s website or app.

The vast majority of her customers were local, Jones explained, and would just pick up their orders at her home — but soon there were so many orders, Jones realized Style Cellar needed its own location.

“It just got so big that we started looking for a space,” she said.

“I was like, we have to either get a warehouse or a store,” Jones added. “And now it’s much easier because they can come here and pick up their orders, we’ll pull it for them, and it saves them shipping.”

Customers can still catch the livestreams on the Style Cellar shopping app and Facebook page every Thursday and Sunday at 8 p.m.

“That’s when we do some specials and show the new stuff,” Jones added.

Jones and her team renovated their new storefront from top to bottom, transforming it from what used to be a florists’ shop to a modern, welcoming boutique.

She said that she sources her clothes through a lot of different brands and suppliers, including some bigger labels such as Judy Blue denim and Karli Buxton jewelry. Style Cellar also stocks sizes small through XXXL.

“That’s our main thing, we want to be a boutique for every body type,” she said, “A lot of times you walk into a boutique and there’s only like a small section of plus sizes, or there’s no plus at all. Some of our stuff even goes up to four-XL. So we try to really make it so there’s something for everybody.”

Of course, Style Cellar has more than just apparel.

“We have bags, jewelry, shoes, intimates, hats... we have home care stuff like candles. We have some makeup things,” she said. “If I can buy it, I will buy it.”

With the new storefront, Jones said she is excited to be able to host fun events in collaboration with other local businesses, like a build-your-own floral arrangement event, or food tastings from nearby restaurants. All of the shop’s events will be posted to the boutique’s Facebook page once they are finalized.

She said their next upcoming event will be “Christmas in July” on July 25.

“We’re going to do some Christmas cookies, and a tree, and some specials,” Jones said.

The new physical store is open Sundays noon to 4 p.m., Wednesdays noon to 6 p.m., Thursdays 3 to 7 p.m., and Fridays noon to 6 p.m.

PHOTOS BY SHEENA HOLLAND DOLAN — THE NEWS-HERALD Mentor resident Lindsey Jones recently turned her passion for shopping into a business by opening Style Cellar, a fashion and accessory boutique.

Style Cellar’s new storefront opened June 2at 8492 Mentor Ave., but also maintains a large base of online sales through their website and shopping app.

SHEENA HOLLAND DOLAN — THE NEWS-HERALD Owner Lindsey Jones initially launched Style Cellar from her home in 2020, selling only online and doing local order pickups — but the business expanded so quickly she soon needed a physical storefront. Jones acquires her products from many different sources and brands.

SHEENA HOLLAND DOLAN — THE NEWS-HERALD In addition to apparel in sizes small through three-XL, Style Cellar also stocks shoes, jewelry and some home goods.