Building the Valley: More than just sweet styles offered at Honeybee & Co. boutique in Leechburg

When Rachelle Beavers and her daughter, Destiney Beatty, decided to expand their growing online clothing business last year by adding a retail shop, their goal was simple.

They wanted to create a place where customers could see, touch and try on the high-quality, affordably priced apparel they sell for women and children.

But finding the right location for their business, Honeybee & Co., has been a bit of a trial-and-error process since its launch in September.

This spring, Beavers and Beatty relocated the shop from Emerson Street in Vandergrift to 156 Market St. in the heart of Leechburg’s business district.

“We originally wanted to put the shop in Leechburg, but in the beginning we were concerned about the rents, which are higher,” said Beavers, 45, of West Leechburg.

While their first location was doing well, they felt it lacked foot traffic because there were no other stores nearby and the site lacked parking, Beatty said.

So they pulled up stakes and moved their business to Leechburg.

Balancing family and work

Beavers said she came up with the idea of starting the online business with her daughter five years ago. They borrowed $2,000 to get started.

“I have a special-needs son, so I always stayed home with him,” she said. “Destiney always worked, so when she got pregnant, I starting thinking about ways she could continue working but sort of stay home and be a mom. It also gives me something to do.”

Beatty, 26, of Bethel Township said she loved the idea of opening a boutique.

“The online business was doing very well,” she said. “And it really took off during (the) covid (pandemic), but a lot of times people aren’t going to spend $50 on a pair of jeans without trying them on. So that was always in the back of my mind.”

Beatty said the business has provided the flexibility she needs to handle double duties as a mom and businesswoman.

“We run the online portion of business out of my mother’s house, so the kids can be with me while I’m doing that,” she said. “I can also do a lot of my work remotely with an iPad and phone. And the kids can be here with me when I’m working at the shop.”

Beatty said she and her husband, Ryan, plan to home-school their children, Brooklyn, 4, and Blaine, 2, which will allow her to spend time with them during the day while running the business.

Having her “little bees” around also comes in handy when Honeybee needs models to make photos for its collection of children’s clothing.

The online boutique and the shop in Leechburg also has graphic T-shirts, jeans, dresses, tops, jumpers, footwear, handbags, shorts and leggings, which are the most popular item sold.

The company also supports other local small businesses by carrying a variety of hand-crafted accessories and, of course, locally sourced honey.

It’s all about the clothing

Beatty said once the idea of going into business clicked, there was no question about what that venture would be.

“I don’t think it was ever going to be anything but clothing,” she said. “We both love fashion and really try to focus on selling things that are true to us.”

For Honeybee & Co., that means offering everyday wear that’s high quality, versatile and “won’t break the bank.”

“A lot of people in this area want to wear something that is casual but can also be dressed up,” Beatty said. “So we try to keep the prices affordable.

“We love that we’re able to sell a dress for $28 that can be worn to a cookout or to a wedding.”

The mother-daughter team’s personal taste plays a big role in selecting items to stock — if it doesn’t catch their eyes and add value to a customer’s wardrobe, they don’t sell it.

“We look for stuff that we know we would wear, so a lot of what we sell reflects our style,” Beavers said. “We’re also both into how the clothing feels, the quality of the fabric, the stitching and if it’s comfortable and versatile.”

Beatty said even if something meets those criteria, the price has to be right before it is added to Honeybee’s inventory.

While there may be a market for dresses that sell for $500, she said, her approach when considering whether to stock something so expensive is to ask herself: “Would I pay that much for that dress? No, I wouldn’t. We try to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes.”

Adding the personal touch

The decision to add a retail outlet to their thriving online business grew from a desire to extend the personal touch and customer service Honeybee & Co. was developing with their internet patrons.

“Customers tell us all the time that they’ve seen similar looking items for sale on Amazon or somewhere else that are cheaper,” Beatty said.

“I used to let that get under my skin. But our customers come back because they know we work to find good quality clothing at an affordable price.”

Beatty said the low-priced apparel sold by major retailers is manufactured abroad with cheap materials and poor workmanship. So Honeybee focuses on selling clothing that is made in the United States whenever possible.

“I know what it’s like to buy something for $30 and have it start to fall apart the first time you wash it,” she said. “We’re not going to sell something like that just because it’s cheaper.”

Beatty said the attention paid to making sure clothes fit properly and meet a high level of quality comes from their own personal experiences.

“I can’t tell you how much clothing we’ve bought online that ended up being donated because it didn’t fit right or was poorly made,” she said. “We try to give our customers a better shopping experience.”

Beatty said taking a personal approach when fulfilling online orders also has been crucial to Honeybee’s success.

To combat the frustration buyers experience when they have to return items that don’t fit properly, Honeybee & Co. solicited the help of its 6,000 followers on Facebook.

“We have a fun thing we do where we ask our customers to snap a photo of themselves wearing a pair of jeans or something they bought and listing what size the clothes are and what size they usually wear,” she said.

“This way someone else can look at the picture and say, ‘She’s about my size, or she’s built like me’ before they buy something.’ ”

The boutique carries women’s fashions in sizes small to XXXL.

The decision to add a retail outlet also grew from Honeybee & Co.’s experiences at local vendor events where they set up a boutique trailer.

“We had quite a few local people show up at these events who told us they loved the clothing but didn’t buy because they weren’t sure about the quality or whether it would fit,” Beavers said.

Beatty said the case for opening a boutique was cemented when they realized the lengths some people were taking to see what they had to offer.

“When people started telling us that they were coming to these events just to see us, sometimes traveling an hour away, I started thinking that we really needed to get a place to make it easier for people to shop with us.”

Kellie Crowe of Export was a loyal customer long before Honeybee had a retail shop.

“I started shopping with them when they were only online and had the pop-up events,” said Crowe, 32, a Vandergrift native. “It was so cool when they opened an an actual store.

“It’s great to be able to go down and to browse and try something on before I buy it so I don’t have to go through the whole return process,” she said.

Crowe is a big fan of graphic T-shirts and often finds unique ones at Honeybee along with other apparel “that you can’t get anywhere else.”

Honeybee’s owners say it’s exciting to be part of the effort to revive Leechburg’s business district and find ways to support the community.

Last year, Honeybee & Co. donated nearly $2,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project and recently raised more than $400 for foster care children in need.

“This is such a cute little town,” Beavers said. “We’re so glad to be here.”