By Vicki Prichard
NKyTribune reporter
Kim Powers Hoyt took a different approach when she started her Ludlow clothing boutique, Leeta Ruth. She had no idea what kind of business she wanted, but she was certain about the location.
“It wasn’t like, ‘here’s what I want to do, now where am I going to do it?’ It was like, ‘I want to own a business here, what am I going to do?’”
Hoyt, who lives in Ludlow with her husband and two children, says she was inspired by the growing number of local business owners in Ludlow and their infectious energy.
“I didn’t even have the idea for a clothing boutique until August. It really was more, I saw an opportunity in Ludlow,” says Hoyt. “We’ve lived down here for five years and I was starting to meet some of the business owners and I felt like they had an amazing energy. I have an entrepreneurial spirit and I thought, I want to be part of this.”
In the past few years, she says, a handful of small business have set up shop along Elm Street — business owners, she says, who are in their 20s and early 40s, and are breathing new life into the tiny river town.
When she opened her shop, practically every other business owner along the street – her neighbors, now — stopped in to welcome her to the neighborhood.
“They are so committed — so helpful — and they’ve supported me since day one,” she says. “I feel so lucky to be a part of this. It’s important to feel supported and inspired. I feel like when you have that energy you can have bad days and it’s not the end of the world, and that energy lifts the community.”
A photograph of great-grandmother Leeta, the timeless beauty who inspired the boutique’s name, is poised on the mantel above the fireplace in Leeta Ruth.
“When I was starting the store, I wanted to make the name personal,” says Hoyt. “Leeta is my great-grandmother. She was very artistic. She did all the paintings that are on the walls here. Ruth is my grandmother — my mom’s mom — and she was one of those women that I thought was gorgeous when I was a little girl. She had a kind of classic 1920s – 1930s era, graceful and put-together look.”
Hoyt used the art from one of great-grandmother Leeta’s paintings for the shop’s logo.
From start to finish, Leeta Ruth sprang to life over little more than a three month span – from August to early November. Once Hoyt knew she wanted to be part of Ludlow’s entrepreneurial spirit, she explored the availability and cost of commercial property.
“The first thought was, ‘How can I be part of this?’ If I was going to start a business, what would I do?” says Hoyt.
For eleven years, Hoyt made her career at Xavier University in academic support for student athletes.
“That was really my career,” says Hoyt. “I started as an intern and worked my way up. When I left, I was the director of academic support for student athletes.”
She loved the work, but also wanted to spend more time with her two young children.
Hoyt says she knew she had a love for clothes. For five years she worked in retail as a stylist for Stella and Dot, a San Francisco based company that creates entrepreneurial opportunities selling boutique-style jewelry and accessories, but she had never taken a business class in her life. She let her love for style, people, and Ludlow lead the way.
Curious as to what might be available, she reached out to Joy Amann, a local realtor who lives in Ludlow.
“She wrote me back, and, doing a good job, she says, “Well, there’s this building you really should look at.”” says Hoyt.
Once Ammon showed her the former dental office in the old home at 325 E. Elm Street, Hoyt says the wheels began turning.
Knowing that her father, Scott Powers, an attorney, enjoys rehabbing in his free time, she went to him and told him about the property.
“I said, “If you buy this house, I will run a business out of it,” He bought it and I was like, ‘okay, here we go.’” says Hoyt.
Off they went, indeed.
Her father and brother joined forces in rehabbing the property and Hoyt began researching how to open a clothing store. Basically, she says, she got on line and Googled how to open a clothing boutique and began her tutelage. From there she learned about business permits, buying clothes at market, and all the financial details of owning a business.
“I really had no idea,” says Hoyt. “Probably to a fault I will kind of jump into things — that can be good or bad.”
So far, so good. Leeta Ruth is attracting women of all ages and styles.
“I want to appeal to as broad a group as I can, while at the same time maintaining the feel of the place and style,” says Hoyt. “My goal for it is I want there to be pieces that women of all ages can dress up in and dress down.”
Hoyt says she loves the style aspect of owning a boutique, but also enjoys the opportunity to bring women together. She’s begun hosting events at the store where women are invited to sip wine while they shop with their girlfriends.
“I think women are focused on everybody else, so to focus on yourself for a hot minute is kind of nice,” she says.
Hoyt says she’s very much a feminist, who loves being a female entrepreneur – focusing on women and supporting women.
“I’m just so excited, I love clothes, I love owning a boutique, but I’m really just happy to be here.”