A couple who met in a friend’s boutique will open their own take on women’s clothing in the Village this fall.
Tamar Lask and her husband, Peter, are working to bring Juniper to Ball State — the couple’s co-owned women’s boutique geared toward college students.
“We try to keep it affordable because college student don’t have a huge amount of disposable income,” Tamar said.
The Village’s small shop and eclectic vibe is what drew Peter to Ball State.
“[The Village] is its own little funky neighborhood that is very diverse and seems to be a very busy place,” he said. “We think [Juniper] will be convenient for students and we will fit in well.”
The boutique will take the place of Grandma Betty’s at 1710 University Ave. The locally owned ice cream shop closed in February after a break-in left owner Jeannine Lee Lake without the equipment needed to run the business.
The Lasks own and operate two other Juniper locations, one in West Lafayette near Purdue University and the other in Oxford, Ohio, near Miami University. They hope to have the Village location up and running by September.
They got the idea to open a location near campus because Juniper two managers, one at each location, are Ball State graduates and told them about the Village.
The Lasks live in Oxford, Ohio, but Tamar makes the nearly three-hour commute every two weeks to their West Lafayette location to work with staff and customers. She plans to do the same when the Village location opens.
“If you want it to run the way you want it to run, you have to be involved,” she said.
Tamar also does all of the buying and scheduling for their two current locations. She focuses on making sure Juniper is more than a place to buy clothes but also an inviting hangout.
“That is the fun part,” she said.
Peter said the atmosphere is something he takes pride in.
“People always comment on the friendly feeling they get in our stores,” he said.
Peter said a lot of the goodwill created by the shop had to do with his wife.
“She is very understanding — I am always sort of in awe of her ability to work with the employees and the customers,” he said.
Juniper isn’t Tamar’s first experience in the world of retail. She started in retail at the age of 16 and worked her way up through the ranks at a Cincinnati store while working on a marketing and management degree from the University of Cincinnati.
“So I ran their operations and I realized it was something I enjoyed and also had the aptitude for,” Tamar said. “So it seemed like the natural progression was to open my own boutique.”
The Village location is still in “deconstruction mode,” Tamar said. While the Lasks aren’t exactly sure what the location will look like this fall, they plan to offer the selection and “nice vibe” Juniper is known for.
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