When Poppy Jane Co. opened its doors in Downtown Sarasota this November, it marked both a homecoming and a new chapter for co-owners and mother-daughter pair Sharon Mautz and Kait Poepperling, who have spent nearly a decade building their business together. What began eight years ago as a small online venture run out of a guest bedroom in Mautz’s home has evolved into a family-run boutique with an online store and locations in St. Petersburg and now, Sarasota.
Poepperling and Mautz originally launched their business after relocating from Pennsylvania to Florida in 2017—Mautz had spent years in a corporate finance career and wanted a change. Opening a clothing boutique together was an easy decision. “Whenever we got to spend time together, we would always go shopping,” says Poepperling. “Our favorite thing to do was go to lunch and find cool, unique clothing stores. When my mom wanted to leave the corporate world, she asked me to start a business with her, and a clothing store was the first thing that was on our minds, because that’s what we love doing together.”
Now, the pair’s shared vision is reflected in their carefully curated selection. The boutique focuses primarily on women’s clothing that balances trend-forward style with comfort and wearability, offered at an affordable price point. “We’ve always carried women’s everyday, trendy clothing, but we also really try to focus on comfort. We make sure the fit of all our clothes is really good,” says Poepperling. While women’s apparel makes up about 90 percent of the store, the Sarasota location is introducing new additions, including a baby gift section and a men’s collection curated by Poepperling’s husband…