New Today! Olivine Online
Julie Wray tells us why her beloved Ballard shop closed, and why she’s bringing it back
Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Mar 11, 2010 at 06:30AM
3 Comments
Slideshow: What you’ll find at the brand new Olivine Online (here, Prairie Underground; Olivine has always been a prime outlet for the beloved local line)
View Slideshow » Illustration:A dress by Dace, a Vancouver-based line
View Slideshow » Illustration:Personalized bracelets by Jenny Present
View Slideshow » Illustration:Wray’s own line of LuLu Beauty scents
When Olivine closed its Ballard Ave doors in the summer of 08, you could pretty much hear hearts breaking all over the city. Women loved that store. The clothes were feminine, but they were easy. The vibe was low-key, but not ordinary. You could go there and leave with something special. Seattle was really sad to see it go.
But then Olivine owner Julie Wray popped back up at Show Pony in Fremont, and all was right in the world. Recently, however, she sold the shop, and again, I keep having that conversation with people, What happened to Julie?
Well, she’s back — as of today. Shopolivine.com joins la-rousse.com in that small but one-can-only-expect-growing category of brick and mortars-gone-digital. If you like to shop in front of your laptop and you also like to shop local, you’re in luck.
Here’s the scoop:
Wear What When: Seattle women loved it so… why you decide to close Olivine?
Julie Wray: Great question! The real deal is that I was tired of owning a retail store that required so much in the way of travel, employees, inventory etc. I had just recently gotten married and we were getting ready to get pregnant. After 16 years of owning retail stores and being single I was ready to prepare my life for a family! It just so happened that I closed Olivine before the recession hit, so I got to leave on a high note. Business was always good at Olivine from the day we opened.
WWW: And what about Show Pony? Just when they thought they had you back …
JW: Show Pony was supposed to be my version of a pop-up shop! My intention was to only be open for a year. It surprised me that it ended up doing as well as it did, so I thought it would be better to sell it instead, and I found the perfect person to take it over.
WWW: Olivine online launches today. What do you love about being online-only and what scares you about it?
JW: Selling online will be a totally new challenge for me and I am so excited about it. I started and ran four successful retail locations, but I don’t know anything about selling online! I love a challenge… I have very little overhead now so there is a lot more freedom to offer little perks. We’ll be doing: Free same-day delivery in Seattle, one-day only pop-up shops around town, and private in home parties starting in the fall. And of course, It gives me the freedom to relax and enjoy my business and my family! The huge bonus for me is that I get to work from home and watch my beautiful seven week old baby grow up!
Tags: Locally Made, Accessories, new, Locally Designed, Online Shopping, Health and Beauty
Olivine was my favorite!
When I first launched SPUN, Olivine was the first Seattle boutique to carry SPUN and Julie was very patient with me while I figured this whole thing out. Julie carried a lot of organic clothing and hair products and it was a perfect place for SPUN. I would love to have SPUN be a part of the new Olivine again! Good luck Julie! xoxo
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