She also spent 14 years owning and operating her photography studio and inevitably, she would find herself consulting high school students on what to wear for their senior portraits. That experience encouraged her to open a 1,200-square-foot clothing store in Viroqua’s downtown in October 2019.
The Trend Boutique is the newest clothing store to open on Monroe Street and is across the street from the Monroe Street branch of the Madison Public Library.
Her business survived the disruptions caused by the pandemic thanks to online sales but like Astin, is committed to in-person sales, a physical retail space and racks and shelves of clothing. Trend Boutique, which opened in early November, joins other Monroe Street clothing stores like Hive, Rupert Cornelius, Good Day Shop, Zip-Dang and now Sunne Boutique.
“I’m super excited about our Monroe Street location,” Olson said. “I knew I wanted to be in the Madison area in a busy foot-traffic area but I just wasn’t sure where that was going to happen.”
Ava Olson, manager of the Trend Boutique, 1639 Monroe St., walks through the sales floor of the shop that is owned by her mother, Kristina Olson. The elder Olson opened a larger store in Viroqua in 2019 and in November opened this second location in Madison.
Olson initially looked for a retail space in Waunakee but when she couldn’t find the right spot that matched her budget and lease requirements, she found a 650-square-foot spot at the corner of Monroe and Garfield streets that for years was home to Walter’s Swim ‘n Sun and briefly was a used clothing store.
An outfit is displayed in the window of Trend Boutique, 1639 Monroe St.
A metered public parking lot is across the street next to a branch of the Madison Public Library while Ava, who worked at her mother’s Viroqua store in high school and was looking for a job after moving back from Minneapolis, lives with her oldest sister who is studying nursing down the street at Edgewood College.
