After two years in its cozy baby blue home at 20 Wentworth Street, downtown Dartmouth's clothing and accessories source, Bodega Boutique, is moving and shaking things up. Next month, the store will re-open at 104 Portland Street—next door to the new location of Halifax furniture store Kew, which opens at the end of the month. "It's about building the brand and making it stronger, and more in-tune with what's happening downtown," says the shop's owner Kate Hamilton. "The space we had was always going to be a launch pad. It’s helped us get through year two with no debt."
Bodega's next phase comes with four-times the floor space and dramatic 20-foot ceilings, meaning loads of room for new lines, home decor, art and a collaboration with Dartmouth Clothing Company. It will also feature the Elizabeth Brown Common Space, a work space available for rent to entrepreneurs, makers and artists. Hamilton is working with designer Jamie Clarke to work on the storefront, which she calls a "blank canvas", citing "a lot of gold foil, black and concrete and a lot a really, really interesting edges," as inspiration.
The current location of the boutique will close January 31, and until then the entire store is on for buy one, get one 50 percent off. Hamilton says she aims to have the new location open for the next Dartmouth Food Crawl on February 12.
