Sophias Style Boutique

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Sophias Style Boutique is an American online retailer based out of Omaha, Nebraska that carries designer children’s apparel, accessories, toys, and furniture. The company was founded in 2004 by owners Jake and Belinda North as an eBay store. Currently, Sophias Style Boutique ships to customers worldwide from nearly 30 warehouses located across the United States.

History

After having her first daughter, Sophia, Belinda North began selling girl’s clothing out of her home in Bellevue, Nebraska on eBay. The first thing she sold on eBay was a used dress, and she said it “went really well.” From there the business expanded and Belinda began selling new clothing, specifically special occasion dresses and birthday dresses.

In 2006, the inventory for Sophias Style outgrew the North’s home and the company moved into a warehouse and launched their website, SophiasStyle.com. That same year, Jacob North left his job managing a restaurant and began helping with Sophias Style full time, he said it was an unexpected career move.

By July 2008, Sophia’s Style had once again outgrown its location and the company moved, this time to its current headquarters: a warehouse on the outskirts of Omaha, Nebraska. In 2008, the company also launched their second website, AffordableFlowerGirlDresses.com. Today the company has nearly 20 employees at their main office and warehouse in Omaha.

Sophias Style now carries children’s apparel ranging from everyday baby clothing and kids clothing to pageant dresses and quinceañera dresses as well as figure skating, gymnastics and dancewear. Within the last year, the Sophias Style inventory has expanded outside the realm of apparel to include toys and children’s furniture from Teamson and KidsKraft.

Publicity and Awards

In March 2009, Jake and Belinda were listed in the Midlands Business Journal as Top 40 Under 40 Award Winners. According to the journal article, SophiasStyle.com had over 250,000 visitors to the site by February 2009 and over 40,000 customers had asked to receive the company’s marketing emails. As of March, 2009 the company was shipping approximately 400 packages daily to customers all over the world. Sophias Style sells products on SophiasStyle.com, Amazon, eBay, and Overstock.com. The North’s have been included in Marsha Collier’s book, Santa Shops on eBay, and The eBay Billionaires’ Club: Exclusive Secrets for Building an Even Bigger and More Profitable Online Business, by Amy Joyner. They have also been featured in FORTUNE Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and Bride’s Magazine.

Fundraising

Sophia’s Style offers a fundraising program for local schools and non-profit organizations in which a portion of the proceeds from every sale to a student or member is donated to their school or organization. Saint Matthews Catholic School and the Figure Skating Club of Omaha are both enrolled in the Sophias Style fundraising program.

Other Brands

Affordable Flower Girl Dresses

AffordableFlowerGirlDresses.com was launched in 2008 by the Sophias Style company. The site sells flower girl dresses, boys formalwear, dress shoes, and wedding accessories.

Just Communion Dresses

JustCommunionDresses.com was launched in 2010 by the Sophias Style company. The site sells First Communion dresses, shoes, and Communion accessories.