Still a newlywed, she was seven months pregnant, had just lost her job and her husband was in between jobs as well.
Having always thought about opening her own boutique, and having been saving some money for that day, the chaos presented an opportunity.
“I had an entrepreneur’s spirit,” she said. “I’m a hard one to direct, and I was interviewing for different medical device sales jobs where I would be gone a lot, and my husband and I sat down and discussed, ‘OK, now might be the time to give this a whirl. It’s make-or-break time.’”
Ethington, a country girl by background, opened Cactus Rose Boutique, which has evolved from an e-commerce store to one that does that and has a brick-and-mortar location in Gilbert.
The vibe is “country chic,” as Ethington calls it, and the shop has an unmistakable feminine air with its pink accents and neon signs with messages like “Hello gorgeous” and “Babe you look so cool.”
It fits for Ethington, who was raised with horses in Pleasanton, California, and also is a bit of clothes horse. She also was a dancer growing up, saying it was not because she was all that talented.
“It was the costumes that spoke to me — the hot pink, the fringe, the frill, the rhinestones, all of the wild costumes, the full glam makeup,” she said. “So that’s where the chic comes in.”
Horses, she said, are therapeutic for her. But fashion is expressive.
“I am a very emotional girl, but the way I have learned to express my emotions is through personal style and outward fashion,” she said. “So that was always something that I was really drawn to, and I was like, ‘this is my niche.’”
Kaitlyn Ethington likes the team she has built at Cactus Rose Boutique and takes them on occasional outings like this recent axe-throwing night. From left are Tiffany Mercier, Kat Fuller, Ethington, Emily Weeks, Courtney Gambaiani and Ryley Williams. (Courtesy Kaitlyn Ethington)
The brick-and-mortar store opened at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but “the community really showed up for us,” Ethington said. (Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett)
Customers will not find any brown riding cowboy boots in the store. (Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett)
Shoppers often come in to pick an outfit for a concert like a recent Morgan Wallen event in Phoenix. (Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett)
Neon signs help create the store’s atmosphere inside. (Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett)
The boutique sells other items beyond clothes. (Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett)
It helped, too, that she worked for a merchandiser between high school and college staging stores and learned she had a gift for it.
Ethington had an aunt in the Valley who passed away, so she came out to button up some family business and attend Arizona State, where she got a degree in communications.
After college, she met her husband through mutual friends. They had a home in Gilbert together when she started the e-commerce store out of her home. It kept growing — too big for a home, even when they moved to a horse property in Queen Creek where she now keeps horses, goats and chickens.
“I had shoe boxes piled up in my family room, and my husband and I looked at each other,” she said. “We were like, ‘something’s got to give here.’”
Ethington got a warehouse in Queen Creek, but she also had opening a store in mind, especially when she would drive past what she calls “small business row” on Williams Field Road west of Higley Road, which she said is an underrated area.
“The outward style was an attraction to me also,” she said. “And it had this pink flower; it’s still around the top vent area. And I’m like, ‘I feel like that works with my aesthetic. It just really spoke to me. And then sure enough, I saw the sign for lease, and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to go check it out.’”
The space proved perfect for her ambitions. Her husband is a plumber by trade, but had all the handy skills to do the sweat equity inside. They transformed it into her vision of country chic.
Ethington said the shop sells statement pieces, their brand inspired by Dolly Parton or Taylor Swift from her Eras tour, where costuming became so much a part of the show or festival.
“No longer is it just about the artist, it’s about the culture that they’ve created,” she said. “Everyone wants to feel part of the festivals, the things that are going on. And with that outward expression, it’s women are finding that they too can feel confident, feel like the star, when they’re going to enjoy a festival or a concert.”
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on Twitter.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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