Online Chicopee based boutique prepares for holiday shopping

Dec. 3, 2020 | Carolyn Noel
carolynn@thereminder.com

CHICOPEE – With the holiday season upon us, many local businesses are gearing up for the shopping rush. One company preparing for this is Lotus & Compass, an online boutique that specializes in selling women’s clothing, shoes, accessories and giftable items. Lotus & Compass is owned by Melaney and Brandon Houle, both residents of Chicopee.

Melaney Houle started selling women’s clothing through a multi-level marketing company in early 2016. In 2018, Houle decided to open her own store to continue offering clothing and a variety of other locally and nationally sourced items. In the summer of 2019, Houle opened a storefront in Chicopee on Exchange Street. Unfortunately due to COVID-19, Lotus & Compass had to close this past summer. Houle and her husband now run their business online and have no current plans to open another storefront location any time soon.

“We’re just kind of taking it one month at a time. For now, we don’t have any plans for another store location, but we’re not writing it off in the future depending on how things go,” said Houle.

Lotus & Compass offers women’s clothing in sizes XS-3XL at their online boutique located at https://lotusandcompass.com/. According to Houle, they have offered more cozy styles this year, such as cardigans and shawls, due to the pandemic and many customers staying home. Lotus & Compass has also begun selling a variety of self-care items in 2020, such as soaps, body products, CBD bath bombs, therapy dough and more. Many of these products have come from other small businesses, said Houle.

“It’s been really awesome. It’s given us the chance to partner with some really wonderful local businesses and offer their goods in our store and help to support two small businesses instead of just one,” she said.

Lotus & Compass is also focused on helping customers support their mental and physical health during the pandemic. Houle currently offers yoga classes twice a week on Zoom. At the beginning of the year, Houle had a brick-and-mortar yoga location in Chicopee. The location was open for a week before the pandemic hit and they were forced to shut down. Since then, Houle has continued to teach yoga virtually. Classes are offered live and also on-demand at $10 each.  

“It’s a nice option for people who still want to get their practice in and have someone guide them, without having to physically go to a class out in the community,” said Houle.

Those interested in signing up for the virtual yoga classes are encouraged to visit https://lotusandcompass.com/pages/lotus-compass-yoga.

Houle said that once the pandemic is over, she definitely plans to teach classes live within the Chicopee community. For now, she said that it has been great to connect and meet new people who might not have felt comfortable going to a yoga class before.

Lotus & Compass is planning to offer many deals and new, local items this holiday season, according to Houle. For Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, Lotus & Compass had a “7 Days of Deals” event. Houle said she plans to have more specials, which will be announced on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lotusandcompassinc. Given that they are an online business, Houle said it is perfect for those who need to shop but don’t feel comfortable going out.

“It’s a really nice option for people that want to avoid going into the mall or Target or anywhere busy right now, especially with COVID numbers going up,” she said.

Lotus & Compass also has their own private Facebook Group. This group is for customers who want to stay up to date on news, sales, The Houles’s journey and also connect with other shoppers. Those interested in joining this group can learn more at https://www.facebook.com/groups/lotusandcompass.

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