For the past 14 years, Cyndii Jo Hartley has used her eye for style as a hairdresser. After a bike accident last year, she began thinking about a new way to use this talent and work in her lifelong love for fashion by launching a clothing boutique. Only she wanted to make it possible, as soon as possible.
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When she heard about a fashion truck in Nashville a year ago, she got really excited about the possibility of bringing that concept to Memphis. Then the call for applicants to MEMmobile, the mobile retail pilot program launched by the Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team, was announced.
“I told a friend about the idea, and the very next day told me she received an email about this grant program application. It was fate,” she says.
She submitted her proposal last October and was selected as one of 5 businesses to receive a forgivable loan and marketing assistance through alt.Consulting to launch her idea. Converted from an old snacks delivery truck and carefully filled with women’s clothing and accessories, the Henny Penny Mobile Boutique was ready to test the waters.
- alt.Consulting
Before the official roll-out of Memphis mobile retail shops last Thursday at City Hall, Cyndii Jo had already driven her mobile boutique Henny Penny to several local events such as Memphis Fashion Week, South Main Trolley Tour, and even a private home show.
Cyndii Jo stocks the boutique with easy-to-wear, classic pieces for women of a wide age range. Dresses, tops, shorts, and pants she describes as “effortless glamour.” She also carries some local jewelry lines such as 7 Lucky Stones and hopes to add more. With a few handbags and purses in the mix and a highly curated selection of casual and formal clothing, the inside of the Henny Penny mobile boutique is virtually any woman’s complete dream closet.
You’ll find Cyndii Jo with her truck most Fridays through Sundays around town with either her mom Nita or a friend proudly helping with sales. Mondays through Thursdays, she’s a hair stylist at Epic Total Salon. Of course, she tries to make her schedule as flexible as possible to work in special events. You can track her location through the Henny Penny Twitter or Facebook page.
See some of the items that they carry in the slideshow below.
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hennypennymemphis.com
www.facebook.com/hennypennymemphis
twitter.com/HennyPennyMem
