Following in her grandmother’s footsteps, Sydney Erwin opens Casually You Boutique

ZANESVILLE − The opening of Casually You Boutique in January was a foregone conclusion for Sydney Erwin, whose grandmother Pamela Schuster owned the now-closed boutique shop Pamela’s on Maple Avenue years ago.

“When I was a child, I’d go to her store and she had a lot of higher-end clothing she offered,” said Erwin, noting that her concept is more casual-comfy. “But the concept of having a small-town boutique was always one of my dreams.”

The casual clothing shop has been performing well in its first three months after opening at 1306 Linden Ave. inside her sister-in-law’s nail shop, Taylar Made Nails.

“She was like let’s do something fun, and I’ve always been a clothing freak, so we were like let’s do a boutique,” said Erwin, the mother to two boys under 2 years old. “I’m very surprised and happy with how well it’s been doing.”

The boutique offers a variety of different clothes in comfortable material that Erwin says you can dress up or down, depending on your needs.

“We also do sizes XS to 3X,” said Erwin, who said her vendors are varied, but she looks to keep them all American. “We want to try to incorporate every size of a woman.”

Erwin said she gets most of her compliments about the plain tops, which keep with her theme of simplicity and comfort.

“We have a variety of the basic cuts, but we keep the colors simple,” she said. “It seems like everyone is big on neutral colors. That’s our biggest seller right now.”

Erwin, who has a younger sister and three older siblings (two sisters and a brother), is also big on creating outfit options for customers.

“People who don’t shop a lot and can’t or don’t want to put together outfits, I do that for them,” said Erwin. “I love to mix and match outfits and help someone else find just the right style.”

In addition to the clothes, this family-owned boutique experience also offers shoppers the chance to get their nails done by Taylar Made Nails and buy jewelry at a pop-up stand from Katydid’s Designs.

“Sometimes it’s crazy and chaotic but it’s enjoyable,” Erwin said. “And now my kids come into my shop. It’s wonderful and fun.”