‘The 308 Boutique’ thriving after opening third location in the state

KEARNEY, Neb. -- A small town girl is making waves in the boutique business.

Erin Sandy was raised in Amherst. She moved to San Diego to attend college and promised she would never come back. But life had other plans. 

“I swore I would never move home and never marry a farmer, and I did both,” Sandy said. 

After moving back to central Nebraska, she noticed there weren’t many shopping options for women. It inspired her to open a boutique.

“Just saw the need locally for some shopping, some local boutique shopping," Sandy said. "We were continuing to drive you know, an hour or two to find those places, and we thought, you know, there’s enough need that we needed here.”

Erin opened the first ‘The 308 Boutique’ in Holdrege in May 2014. Now, almost 10 years later, she has just opened a Kearney location, her third in the state. 

She said her success is all about hard work and figuring out her target market. 

“Initially you want to be everything to everyone, but you can’t," Sandy said. "So really for me, I focused like, my type of mom. So, I constantly bought for myself and my stage of life.”

Through the years, she has had to keep up with the industry because it changes so fast. She said her team, made up of 20 women, is the best and she enjoys working  with them.

Sandy said through this journey, two things have kept her going. 

“Jesus and coffee, and you know, just a believer over all the years growing up and just knowing that God is going to take care of things," Sandy said. "You’re blessed to be a blessing."