New Business Update: Belle

22 S. Ninth St., Owner: Natasha Hongsuwan, 573-442-5656
Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 12 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

While getting her degree in electrical engineering at the University of Missouri, Natasha Hongsuwan felt frustrated by having to travel outside Columbia to shop for the clothes she likes to wear.

In her junior year, the California native decided to follow her passion for fashion, and on May 24 she opened a boutique downtown called “Belle.”

“In California they already have stores like this,” Hongsuwan. “Most of my store has a West Coast influence, and Columbia didn’t have anything like this-so I thought it would be great,” reports Hongsuwan.

The women’s clothing store is located at 22 S. Ninth St. next to Lakota café.

“Business has been really well,” Hongsuwan said. “I thought it would be quiet in the summer with the students not being here, but we always have people coming in and out.”

The boutique is located near several clothing stores primarily geared toward young women, including Britches down the street and Elly’s Couture, Envy and Swank on Broadway. “Even though there are other boutiques downtown, I feel like we are working together to keep shoppers downtown by providing multiple places to go instead of going to the mall,” Hongsuwan said. “We all sell different brands, so I don’t feel like we’re competing.”

“We don’t have a high mark-up because we want to make it affordable so more girls can wear what we have,” Hongsuwan said. “I love to go out and see a lot of girls who are wearing the clothes. It just makes me happy.”

When she graduates next year, Hongsuwan said she plans to look for a job and keep the boutique. “I cannot pick one; I love both.”