July 9, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by Dawley Farm Village.

Mainstream Boutique reopens under new ownership today at Dawley Farm Village.

Rachel Opstad is the new franchisee for the east-side store. She’s originally from Virginia and spent much of her childhood in Kansas. Opstad comes from an entrepreneurial family — her parents Dean and Meredith have owned multiple businesses and encouraged her to pursue purchasing the Mainstream location.

She was working at a boutique in Kansas where she interned before graduating from Kansas State University.

“I enjoyed doing that but was always looking to grow more out of my position,” she said. “My dad found Mainstream Boutique, and I shopped at the one on the west side when I came up here.”

The west-side store at Lake Lorraine is company-owned. The Dawley location was locally owned by Julie Fischbach, who was looking to sell the franchise rights so she could focus on her Aberdeen location.

“We got ahold of Julie and started talking with others in the company and got accepted into it and did some training and got up here last week,” Opstad said.

The family became connected to Sioux Falls when Opstad’s brother attended Augustana University, and her parents later moved to Canton.

Putting the new venture together has been a family effort.

“We repainted the main part of the store, so it’s a lot brighter. And really we kept the other things the same and added different decor and inventory,” Opstad said.

“It’s all new inventory we’ve ordered over the last couple weeks.”

The Mainstream Boutique corporate office gave some advice on best-selling items, but like all locations, owners choose which inventory to carry.

“If you walk in this store versus the west side, you’ll find different things,” Opstad said. “I’m glad for the help because I’m just starting out, but I’ve always wanted to be a buyer, so I think that will be the most-fun part. And boutiques are unique because you see something and you’ll never see it again, so that’s a fun part.”

She anticipates new merchandise will arrive weekly. Initial inventory includes summer and some seasonal transition items.

Opstad has a couple of employees to get started but is open to taking applications and resumes in case something opens up.

“I love how Dawley Farms is growing — within it and the whole area, Veterans Parkway and everything getting built,” she said. “It will bring in more people, and it’s easy for this Mainstream to grow fast.”

Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.