Purdue student is running her own upscale clothes boutique

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Gabby Gary leads a pretty hectic life.

She's a full-time Purdue University student and a student manager for the men's basketball team, where she works with her father, assistant coach Greg Gary.

Oh, yeah, and she owns and operates her own business, Dawson & Daisy Boutique, a store offering women's and men's clothing as well as a selection of home wares.

"I am a compulsive planner writer," Gary said. "I'm always making to-do lists."

One item on Gary's to-do list before she graduated was to take a concrete step towards a career. Before she even started her first year of college, Gary launched the Dawson & Daisy online store.

"It just kind of took off," Gary said.

The business did so well that two months ago Gary moved the boutique into a brick-and-mortar location in Wabash Landing at 316 E. State St.

Gary said she thought the landing was a good fit, close to campus and near other activities such as the movies, which people could easily combine with shopping.

Even with the State Street construction and most of the student population out of town, Gary said traffic to her store has been steadily climbing since she opened.

Dawson & Daisy's bustling business during what is off-peak months for West Lafayette businesses demonstrates a need for more creatively curated shopping options, Gary added.

"So often I'd go shop at the mall on the weekend, find an adorable dress and see two other people wearing it next week at school," Gary said.

Part of Gary's mission is to make every customer look and feel unique. For this reason Dawson & Daisy has a high inventory turnover rate and only orders a limited number of every clothing item.

Home goods and beauty products are also carefully selected.

"Between me, my sisters and my mom we've tried all sorts of different beauty products," Gary said. "We only carry the ones that work."

Gary calls her shop's aesthetic unique and classy with a hint of Southern style. The business owner said her fashion sense was heavily influenced by time she spent living in Louisiana and Florida with her family. That, and having three younger sisters.

"I have three sisters who I'm always styling and getting ready for events," Gary said.

Gary will graduate soon, and she said she has a lot of different career ambitions, but she would like to see if she can expand the Dawson & Daisy brand. It's a model she thinks could do well in a lot of smaller university towns.

"My major is communications, so I'd be able to take a lot of what I've learned about social media and marketing and apply it to my business," Gary said.

___

Source: (Lafayette) Journal & Courier, http://on.jconline.com/2vG1CD9

___

Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com