Just Whimsy celebrates three years in business this week

When Donna Buehler retired from teaching Language Arts in Jasper she soon found she missed the daily interaction with people her 33-years as a school teacher had provided.

So she floated the idea of opening a store in Jasper to her husband Joe. He told her she might want to work in retail a bit before she jumped into a store on Main Street. Donna worked for a few years for the Looking Glass until an opportunity became available on the Jasper Square in 2009 and soon after, she and her niece opened Just Whimsy.

“The economy was terrible,” she explained. “We really had to punt to get people in here.”

But through a lot of hard work the business has grown and developed from a gift store to a full fashion boutique. These days the corner shop is a bouquet of fashion and furnishings ranging from shoes to candelabrum and appeals to a broad age range of women. “Our customers are 16 to 65,” she said, “and out pricing ranges from upscale to items you only wear one season.”

Donna is proud of her extensive mailing list of customers that come to the store on a regular basis, but she says many customers come from outside the area. “They are visiting French Lick and the women want to do some local shopping,” she explained, “so they come down to Jasper.”

Donna loves purchasing new items for her customers. “I really enjoy bringing new items to the store,” she said. “but it’s probably the hardest part of the business. It’s difficult to determine what customers are going to want. Whimsy is a boutique that offers things that you can’t find anywhere else in the area.”

In appreciation for three years of support from her customers, Just Whimsy will have new offers and sales all week long. They are located at 509 Main Street on the Square in Jasper. Their hours are Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They have a Facebook Page here.

Full disclosure, Just Whimsy advertises on the Dubois County Free Press but we feature stories about any new or existing business in the area regardless of their status with us. We support buying local and feel that businesses are members of our community as well.