Peggy Henderson quit her job to launch a downtown Waynesboro boutique—and it’s paying off.
Like so many of us, the pandemic inspired Waynesboro’s Peggy Henderson to reconsider her career: Her job as a billing professional was steady, but it wasn’t her passion. Looking for a creative outlet led to salvaging and restoring old furniture. Rave reviews from family and friends brought a small retail booth at an antique mall. Rapid sales spurred Henderson to expand inventory to include artisan purses, blouses, and hats. An invitation to man what proved to be a wildly successful holiday pop-up at nonprofit retail collective Magnolia Rose was the final push.
“I realized it was time to do something different,” says Henderson, who decided to retire early and, with the help of her husband, open Boutique in the Boro in March 2023. The thoughtfully curated shop is housed in a historic downtown Waynesboro office building and open Tuesday through Saturday. Inside, patrons will find a broad selection of clothing, home goods, and accessories like Judy Blue Jeans, Myra purses, Montana West handbags, Duke Cannon grooming supplies, jewelry from Katia Designs, Mia throw blankets, and much more.
Henderson attributes thriving sales to proactively soliciting and responding to customer feedback. People come in and say “there’s nowhere around here to shop like this, where someone listens to what you actually want and helps you get it,” Henderson says. “That’s been so encouraging to hear. This kind of quality and customer service is what people wanted.” BoutiqueInTheBoro.com
This article originally appeared in the Best of Virginia 2024 issue.
