For Erin Adan and Mandy Danforth, an effort to make fashion sustainable and free for Shawnee Mission turned into a passion project.
Adan and Danforth are job coaches at Shawnee Mission North and Shawnee Mission East, respectively, who run Broadmoor Boutique — a community-supplied clothing store — out of a classroom on the ground floor of Shawnee Mission North.
Broadmoor Boutique got its start about three years ago after Adan hosted a prom pop-up shop at the Clothing Exchange inside the Broadmoor building, run by the Shawnee Mission Area Council Parent Teacher Association.
Adan, noticing the quality of the clothing coming through the doors, knew she had to expand the prom pop-up to something more. She started with a small clothing rack of kids clothes at the Broadmoor building.
“It grew and it grew and it grew there, that’s how it started,” Adan said. “We had the Broadmoor Boutique there at the Broadmoor building. We moved over here a year ago, Mandy jumped on board with me and we’re able to work together real nicely.”
Now, in its third year, the Boutique is in a temporary space — Room 18 inside the Brick House — and serves as a job site for special education students Adan works with at SM North.
It opens from 3 to 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month for Shawnee Mission students, staff and families to “shop”.
For Adan and Danforth, the boutique has become a community of intention and kindness, from the students who work in the space and the people who “shop” on the first Wednesday of each month, to the community that keeps the racks well stocked.
“It fills our buckets,” Danforth said. “Even coming in here to work to set it up, we get on such a high of like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re gonna love this.’”
“It’s contagious”
The goal of the boutique is to keep clothing out of the landfill, Adan and Danforth said.
Shawnee Mission students, staff and their families can shop at the boutique at no cost, as all the clothing items and accessories are donated from the community.
Danforth said the Boutique has “a good flow of donations coming in right now,” though there are seasonal items like homecoming or prom attire or coats that are needed at specific times.
At one point, Danforth said, some community members hosted a clothing drive for the Boutique after learning more about its mission.
“We didn’t ask, they just did it,” Danforth said.
The donations go beyond clothing items, though.
Community members also donated clothing racks, mannequins, the donation bin, hangers and other items that help keep the boutique organized and updated.
Similar to the clothing drive, Adan said, she and Danforth “never ask for anything.” The clothes-packed boutique is only possible “because of our community,” she said.
“We’ve never asked for a thing,” Adan said. “It’s all been because people hear it, see it and … again, it’s contagious. People want to give. People want to help.”
The boutique is a worksite for special education students
Adan, who is a job coach at SM North, also turned Broadmoor Boutique into a worksite where special education students learn job skills.
Three different groups of students work at the Boutique, Adan said, including a post-high group of students ages 18 to 21 as well as high school students in a job skills training class.
Students learn how to process the clothes, which includes a quality control check, hanging the item, and organizing the clothing items in one of the several sections inside the boutique.
A separate careers class, also of high school students, spends the first quarter of the year at the boutique before going out to work in the community, Adan said.
Shoppers say they enjoy “cozy” and welcoming Boutique
While sustainability is top of mind for the boutique, Adan and Danforth said, a positive, welcoming environment is paramount.
Messages of belonging and kindness line the shop’s walls. The whiteboard asks shoppers to be mindful and ask for help.
The boutique’s welcoming environment is evidenced through the “love notes” shoppers leave via Google Forms.
One shopper, who wanted to remain anonymous, left a love note that said the people who run the boutique ensure shoppers are comfortable and can find what they like.
Chloe Hernandez, another shopper, left a love note that she loved “how cozy I feel being in there.”
“Something small is how kind the people were,” Hernandez wrote. “I already mentioned it, but I loved how sweet they are. I’m looking forward to getting to see them again.”
For Adan and Danforth, the best part of the boutique has been the community it’s created, and watching students in particular approach shopping with intention.
There is also no limit to how many items shoppers can take from the boutique, Danforth said. Still, one of the whiteboard messages does remind people that “if you don’t absolutely love it, leave it for someone else.”
Danforth said some students come in to thrift a Halloween costume or after a recent growth spurt.
Other students find gifts for their grandmother’s birthday or for a cousin’s baby shower, Danforth said. It’s those moments that the two job coaches find heartwarming, she said.
“It’s just, it’s magic, it’s happy,” Danforth said.
The boutique needs more space, job coaches say
Since moving into the temporary space inside Room 18 at SM North, Danforth said she and Adan have organized and rearranged the space to fit the boutique’s needs.
The pair dreams of a bigger, permanent space, though.
For Adan and Danforth, more space means more room to put the donated clothing out and the potential to bring back a changing room inside the boutique.
With limited space and virtually no storage options, Danforth said the boutique hosts pop ups to get donations to the community. The pair are currently planning a baby to toddler clothing pop-up following a recent, large donation.
Still, Adan said there is no desire “to store a bunch of stuff,” outside of seasonal items like coats, swimsuits or prom dresses.
“If it’s not getting out, what are we doing here?,” Adan said. “We’re not here to hoard, we’re not here to gatekeep, we want it out. Share it, share it, share it.”
Aside from finding the boutique a larger space, Adan and Danforth said the best way to get involved is to donate clothes to the shop or visit the shop on the first Wednesday of the month between 4 and 6 p.m.
The donation bin is located in the front circle drive of SM North by Door 46, which is near the flag poles. To get into the shop on the first Wednesday of the month, follow directions found on the highlights on the boutique’s Instagram page here.
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