Faith, fashion & fellowship working together for customers at Hidden Treasures Boutique
By Janna Zepp | Photos by Skeebo
For Marquita Everson, being fashionable means more than clothing. It means being well turned out in appearance and in her soul.
“If you look good, you feel good. Isn’t that how the saying goes?” Everson says, already knowing the answer to her question. “And I love to help people do both.”
Doing both, indeed, is the business she is in. Hidden Treasures Boutique in Salado is more than a consignment store; it is a little bit of retail therapy thrown in for the sake of loving one’s neighbors.
“I am a Christian, and I live by the words of Ephesians 3:20: ’Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is work within us…’,” she says.
By this, Everson refers to biblical scripture, specifically the Apostle Paul’s prayer in the third chapter of Ephesians in which he described the three key attributes of God’s character: sovereignty, omnipotence and glory. With her faith in God, she created her shop. The concept of paying grace forward also is a cornerstone of her business.
Everson credits her mother, Katherine Everson, with the vision of what the business should be right down to filing all the necessary legal documents to set it up.
“None of this would be possible without my mother. She had the idea and God led us to where we are now,” Everson says.
Both mother and daughter have a love of finery and fripperies. In the beginning, the buy, sell and trade of fashionable items for both men and women was conducted from home in Killeen. But the customer traffic and inventory became such that it was no longer practical to run it from the family residence. Immediately, the Eversons found available retail space in Salado that was perfect for what the women wanted for their consignment business.
“I believe God chose the location since He led us here. After all, He is our CEO,” Everson says, smiling.
Meeting people where they are emotionally in terms of their lives drives Everson’s business model. She says it is more than just keeping inventory in the store, keeping the financial books, or making the monthly bottom line; it’s about giving the store’s VIPs (very important patrons) a meaningful shopping experience by celebrating everyone that comes in with a specific need. It also means supporting other fledgling businesses.
“We use the boutique to highlight other people, especially women in business. In October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we carried awareness items and jewelry in the boutique that was made by another woman-owned business,” Everson says. “Hidden Treasures has a heart for people. We look for the hidden treasures within others to make the world a better place.”
Hidden Treasures Boutique
113 N Stagecoach Rd. Unit 3, Salado
Open Fridays & Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Phone: 254-239-3025
Email: htboutique320@gmail.com
