Shopping for premium denim shouldn’t be complicated.
That’s the mission behind Jean Theory, the Charlottesville, Va. and newly minted Richmond, Va. women’s premium denim boutiques.
Mandy Edwards bought the original Charlottesville store last January after serendipitously hearing through a friend that the owner was planning to sell. At the time, Edwards, who was a Jean Theory customer, was considering opening her own denim boutique.
Edwards quickly set out to duplicate the 15-year-old store’s success with a second location closer to her home in Richmond. The store opened last November just in time for holiday shopping.
“Charlottesville is a tiny little jewel box of a store. It’s the cutest store ever. So much character and personality,” she said.
Located in a former ceramic restoration studio, the 1,200-square-foot boutique was seemingly destined to be a denim hotspot. During renovation, contractors uncovered the original “denim blue” tin ceiling in pristine condition. “We had to do nothing to it…our neighbors directly next door don’t have that ceiling…it was meant to be,” Edwards said.