When Elon University students on a college budget head to downtown Elon to treat themselves to one of the locally owned restaurants in the small strip, they often overlook Mynt Boutique, a chic women's clothing store, for fear of bursting the bank.
But Mynt, which has been open for 12 years and is owned by Whitney Sandor, is trying to fit into the college student lifestyle and wallet by lowering its prices after opening a second location in Durham.
“We are refocusing this store to be more college oriented,” said manager Amber Meadows.
With a second location, Mynt now has an opportunity to diversify items between the two stores. The Durham store will now house all of the more expensive and high-end items that used to turn off Elon students.
The majority of clothing tags used to show prices over $100, for brands like Free People, Tory Burch, Rebecca Taylor and Lilly Pulitzer. For most, Mynt was a store to purchase clothing for a special occasion.
Today, few of the prices exceeded $100, besides higher-end jeans and shoes. Students can now shop at Mynt for more than special events, or when their parents come to visit.
“I noticed with college students that some would come in and buy higher priced items and others would come in and say that they wouldn’t pay that much for a dress,” said junior Paige Jordan, a sales associate at Mynt. “But I would tell them that it’s not the store, it is the brand.”
The quality and high level of fashion of the clothes at Mynt are not changing from the drop in prices. The trendy feel of the store rings as true as ever, even with the more affordable brands, including Brand, Rebecca Taylor, Vince and Amanda Uprichard. For special events, Mynt will still provide some big-ticket items.
“On big weekends like Parent’s Weekend or graduation or formals, we are going to have more expensive items coming back to accommodate those needs,” Meadows said.
The drop in prices has been good for the store and for the extended group of people who want to shop there. More students are hearing about the affordable prices, along with other women in the surrounding area who are looking for stylish clothes.
“It has definitely gotten the word around,” Jordan said. “People have noticed it and liked it. We have gotten a lot of good feedback.”
Expanding to a greater demographic in Durham has allowed the store the opportunity to make the Elon location completely unique to Elon students' preferences.
“Now that mostly everything is under $100, we just want to be Elon’s one-stop shop, so that no one thinks to go to Greensboro or Durham,” Meadows said. “It will kinda be y’all's own little boutique.”
Having two locations also caters to Elon students’ fashion needs. If students see an item of clothing from the store in Durham, the sales associates at the Elon location will be able to bring it to the store in a few days.
When sophomore Alexa Trost first entered Mynt last year, she was drawn in by the cute clothes filling the racks. But, after seeing the high prices, she immediately left and didn't bother to shop there again, knowing she couldn't afford the clothing.
Now, though, Trost said though she left the boutique her first time without any purchases, she would go back with the lower prices.
“I’ve always liked their display clothes, so I might go in at some point,” said Trost.
Now when students are enticed by these windows, there will be a wave of relief as they see new, affordable price tags.