By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
For stylish women, Ginny’s Inspired Fashions in downtown Bowling Green let them dress to a T, from socks for their toes to hats to top off their assemblage with outerwear and underwear for parts in between.
The shop, though, was more than a place to find what to wear to go out and have a good time, but a destination in itself, a gathering spot, founder and owner Ginny Stewart said.
A place to share stories, drinks, laughs, and, now that Stewart has announced she’s closing, tears.
“I’m going to cry,” one customer declared as she walked into Ginny’s Tuesday. Just a few racks of dresses, tops, and skirts remained. The supply of headwear was thinning out. Stewart wrapped purchases in Christmas paper, and she had no more bags.
Though Stewart originally said she’d stay open until late in July, it now looks like Friday, July 14, will be her last day.
Stewart said after seven years she’s retiring. “My husband (Scott) is going to be working fewer hours in the next year, and we want to spend more time doing the things we’ve talked about doing. I want to spend more time involved in the social causes that matter to me, and I want to give more time to the schools.”
Stewart is in her first term as a member of the Board of Education. The district has a bond issue to fund a major building project on the ballot in November.
She announced the news of the shop closing in an email to customers late Friday night. But, she said, word started circulating at Grounds for Thought during the day Friday, and since then she’s had a steady stream of customers in to buy the last few must-have items, and mementoes of the shop.
Barb Bettinger was there to pick up a few more baubles. She miss the selection of jewelry, and she’ll miss the proprietor’s personality even more. “Definitely friendly.”
Stewart started selling hats seven years ago in a space in the rear of Coyote Beads. Stewart said she always loved hats, and they were coming back into fashion in a big way both for men and women. Then came a request for other apparel to go along with the hats. After six months she moved across the street to 133 S. Main St. to open her own storefront as BG Hats and Apparel. Two weeks after opening, a fire in an apartment above the shop, closed her down.
Stewart was undeterred. She reopened. The name was later changed to Ginny’s Inspired Fashions – too many people thought the BG meant it sold Bowling Green State University apparel.
The shop represented a return to retail for Stewart. She had worked for nine years as the organizational development manager at Phoenix Technology. When she and several others were given early retirement, she got the itch to return to operating her own business.
“Retail,” Stewart, 62, said, “is in my blood.”
Her mother operated a Hallmark and office supply store in Los Angeles. At 21, Stewart was managing the store. Then she and her sister opened a business together. Five later, they opened separate businesses across the street from each other. Stewart’s was a dining and kitchen store akin to Williams-Sonoma.
She moved to Northwest Ohio in 1989, to take over SJ’s Emporium in Perrysburg.
Stewart’s been generous with her advice to younger business owners. Kati Thompson, who opened Eden Fashion Boutique last summer, said the Stewart shared specific knowledge about how to operate a retail business. “She was always passionate about helping us succeed,” Thompson said. “She definitely added a lot of value to this downtown, and she’ll be greatly missed.”
“This has been an amazing seven years,” Stewart said. Without the shop, “I wouldn’t know the people I know, the friends I have, who will remain my lifelong friends.”
She wouldn’t have gotten involved in various causes, including the school, if it weren’t for the contacts made there. And she wouldn’t have ended up running for school board.
Besides school issues, Stewart said, “I don’t want to commit to anything right now.” Eventually she will be turning her attention to “human rights causes.”
Stewart said she wanted to exit the retail scene “gracefully.” But she didn’t consider selling the shop. Ginny’s Inspired Fashions reflects too much of who she is. “This is personal.”
