A while back I became aware of the fact that there was FINALLY an affordable and chic maternity store in Sioux Falls.  Of course, this had to occur after I was totally done being pregnant with my second child, but I had this pile of maternity clothes that I had ordered online and/or spent a fortune on at the few maternity stores there are in the Eastern South Dakota area.  This didn't stop my excitement though, because I had a variety of friends in different stages of pregnancy, & I always like to help people find the most affordable options for their lifestyle.

So often, as a newly pregnant woman, we just get carried or blown away by everything that entails pregnancy and motherhood.  So much of it is PURCHASING though.  You need new clothes, your new baby will need so many things, & it gets really spendy.  After you're done with pregnancy, you have a pile of clothes that you may never wear again and after the first few months, a bunch of unnecessary baby items that are hard to get rid of or trade for what you really need.  I managed to get by with trading for a lot of stuff with other moms in the area but that still didn't entirely fit the bill.  Had I known about Elegant Mommy sooner, you can bet I would have been there as fast as my waddling, pregnant self could have managed!

(You thought I was kidding, huh?  This was the day before my son was born.)

That's where Elegant Mommy comes in.  The owner, Shelly Gaddis, is a really nice, hip, fellow mommy who saw these needs and decided to step in and make her own business to meet the demand.  She's been a success ever since, and I'd like to see that continue!  Her business offers so much more to parents than just merchandise- classes and seminars, La Leche League meetings, and a lot of support for what can otherwise be an overwhelming time for every new parent.  So, let's all recommend her blossoming business to other moms in our area and hear what she has to say about the initial start up of Elegant Mommy!

During the summer of 2007, I began thinking about what was offered for maternity clothes in Sioux Falls. I was the mom of 2 kids & had someone ask about affordable maternity clothes. As I was thinking back to what I had done for maternity clothes when I was pregnant, there was one consignment store that had a small section of maternity but they had since gone out of business. I started asking friends where they got their maternity clothes and what they had done with it when they were done. The responses were all the same, they had either borrowed it or paid way too much for it because they ended up giving it away when they were done. I began researching the idea of starting an online maternity clothing business. I found a web developer and started buying clothes within a few weeks.

Elegantmommy.com was launched in September 2007. We did okay with online sales but were constantly getting calls from people locally wanting to know where they could look at our stuff. I did a few home “previews” but that was a lot of work, especially since we found out in October 2007 that we were pregnant with baby #3. In December we started looking at retail locations and signed a lease on our current location in January 2008. Our store opened March 1^st, 2008 with 750 square feet of retail space that contained maternity clothing and a few locally made items for other Moms.

Word spread and we grew pretty quickly. We took over the other 1500 square feet next to our location in January 2009 and started offering more classes and workshops. We have also added cloth diapers, breastfeeding items, swaddling blankets, and a wide variety of locally made items from other Moms. Setbacks have been few and far between and I think it relates more to juggling a family and normal learning curves related to employees, finances, and ways to promote our business.

I am so proud and excited for this fellow mom in rural South Dakota.  She's independent, a freethinker, and most importantly, she met a need we definitely have in our area.  I encourage you to stop in and check out what she's got to offer.  Recommend her store to moms-to-be and moms alike.  I know I will be.  She's also got a great blog, a facebook page for the store, and so many other important things to offer.

Elegant Mommy
2109 W 49th Street
Sioux Falls, SD, 57105
Phone: 605-338-0228
Hours:
Mon - Wed: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Thurs: 10:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Fri: 10:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sat: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm