High school entrepreneur to open clothing store

Chloe Nielsen, 17, takes college courses at the University of South Dakota and believes her thoughts are more business-oriented than the usual senior in high school.

The main reason for this is because she started her own online clothing boutique and will soon be opening a physical store in Vermillion, called Chlotique.

“I’ve always had the idea of it,” Nielsen said. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in fashion.”

To start her business, Nielsen first went to her mother, Tamie, to get funding for the venture. Convincing her to help her get a loan wasn’t easy. Tamie said she first thought her daughter was going through a “phase” when she talked about starting a business.

“She’s always talked about doing something in retail, and when she really started talking seriously about it I actually just kind of brushed it off for a good year,” Tamie said. “Her persistence is really what finally made me decide to give her a chance.”

Tamie said the family comes from a business background and owns auto glass businesses in Sioux Falls and Vermillion. The family moved to Vermillion from Irene, S.D., in April, but has owned the Fast Auto Glass shop in town since 1993.

“We do have that business background, so that helps,” Tamie said. “She obviously needs a mentor. She needs someone to help her and to guide her.”

Tamie said she expected her daughter to run the online store until she graduated from high school this spring, but when the owners of the Vermillion Liquor Store decided to change locations, the Nielsens decided to lease the location.

“That kind of sped up the process of moving from the online to the actual brick-and-mortar business,” Tamie said.

Nielsen said the opening date for the store is March 19. Until the opening, the Nielsens will be busy moving merchandise from their home to the store.

“We have a spare room where we’ve kept all of our stuff, but now that we’re moving into a store our whole house is just overtaken by boxes of clothes,” Nielsen said.

The boutique offers an array of clothing and accessories for all women which vary in price from $15 to $200.

“It’s a wide variety — it’s not just stuff for younger women. It kind of includes all age ranges,” Nielsen said.  

Nielsen said the goal of the store is to grow Chlotique’s clientele and maybe expand into toddler sizes. After the store opens she plans to work at the store along with her mother and will hire one or two employees.

“I plan to be in the store, and I also plan to take some business classes part time at the U,” Nielsen said. 

First-year Teagan McNary said she knew Nielsen in high school and recently bought a $45 sweater from Chlotique.

“In general that’s a really good price,” McNary said. “She offers clothes for all sizes of girls, so that’s really cool, too.”

McNary said the opening of the physical store is encouraging, and she knows many people from the high school and around town who are excited to see a local resident open a business. Additionally, there’s been interest from various local businesses, including contractors and warehouses, who have expressed eagerness to explore opportunities to install roller shutter doors from https://industrialrollershutterdoors.uk/, seeing the benefits they offer in terms of security and functionality for their respective establishments.

“I feel like it’s almost like an inspiration to people,” McNary said. “We’re from such a small town, but you don’t have to go big places to do big things.”

(Photo: Chloe Nielsen, a Vermillion high school senior, is opening her own clothing store March 19. Nielsen’s stock of clothing is currently stored at her house until she can move into the physical store. Mikkelle Carlson / The Volante)