A new clothing boutique recently opened in downtown Elizabethton, but don’t be surprised if the face you find behind the counter looks a little familiar as it smiles at you.
Jennifer Wolff, owner of the new Sugar Britches Boutique, has worked as a model, appeared in two horror films (The Legend of Wasco and Headless), did a regional tour as an Ole Smoky Moonshine girl with Josh and Bill from A&E’s hit TV show “Moonshiners,” and toured with Kid Rock, Buckcherry, and ZZ Top as a promotional model for Harley Davidson.
Wolff laughs at the idea of fame and refers to herself jokingly as a “small time star.”
It was through her modeling work that Wolff — who is originally from Bloomington, Indiana — met the man that would become her husband Elliott, a Carter County native who lived in between Hampton and Roan Mountain.
“That’s what brought me here was him,” she said.
Wolff moved here in 2013 and travelled back and forth between here and her childhood home in Indiana. In 2014 tragedy struck Wolff’s life and she found herself headed back to Indiana. Her sister, who was one year and one day older than her, passed away.
“I made a decision that I had to adopt her two little girls,” Wolff said.
She obtained custody of the girls and remained in Indiana throughout the adoption process. During that time she was able to live with the girls in the home which she and her sister had grown up in.
“The day after the adoption was final we moved back here,” Wolff said.
In addition to their two daughters, the couple is also raising two sons from Elliott’s previous marriage.
Wolff said opening the boutique has been a goal of hers for some time, perhaps even dating back to her childhood.
“When I was younger I’d take all my knick knacks and put little yard sale stickers on them and then I would make my Mom and Dad come in and buy my stuff,” Wolff said with a laugh, adding she was around 6 years old at the time. “I called myself ‘Jenny Penny.’”
Over the years Wolff garnered experience running businesses through her work but she had never owned her own store before.
She had toyed with the idea of operating a clothing boutique, having acquired a collection of clothes through her modelling and movie work.
“My husband would always tease me about how many clothes I had,” Wolff said.
Finally, she decided the time was right and when she saw that a downtown thrift boutique had been put up for sale by the owner she decided to check it out.
The name Sugar Britches Boutique came about in a unique way.
Wolff said she and her husband jokingly refer to each other as “Sugar Britches” from time to time. One day as they were driving along her husband as a joke suggested she name her new store “Sugar Britches Boutique.” Wolff said she laughed at first and then after considering it for a moment decided the name would be perfect.
She opened the door of Sugar Britches Boutique for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 15. The shop offers clothing for infants, children and women in a variety of sizes and styles as well as shoes and accessories.
“I want to be that store that has something for everyone,” Wolff said.
Many of the items in the store have been previously owned and gently used, but Wolff said also has a lot of merchandise that has never been worn and still has the original tags on it.
Since she has been open, Wolff said she has gotten a lot of compliments on the merchandise she has available as well as her prices, which is something she said is very important to her.
“I want to be affordable,” she said. “I want people to want to come in here. I want have the kind of store that people are excited to tell their friends about.”
Sugar Britches Boutique is located at 545 East Elk Avenue in downtown Elizabethton. The boutique is open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday.