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• New women’s boutique, The Wooden Hanger, opens in Urbana

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A new women's clothing store, The Wooden Hanger, will be opening in downtown Urbana on the corner of Race St. and Main St. Photo by James Kyung

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Located at the corner of Race and Main in downtown Urbana, a new women’s boutique called The Wooden Hanger had its soft opening earlier this week. Showcasing artsy casual clothing for women 35 and up, The Wooden Hanger is the manifestation of a couple that managed to successfully combat the effects of the recession.

Hers was what sounded like a typical story about how the current recession has been affecting individuals all across the nation. Owner Ginny Gluege, hailing from Madison, Wisconsin, worked at the same place for nearly 31 years as a nurse before the recession hit and eliminated her job.

“After 31 years of nursing, I was not doing anything,” Gluege said. Although she tried to search for other jobs related to the field of medical research, she was out of luck.

With so much more free time on her hands, Gluege ended up at the mall one day and noticed that her favorite boutique was looking for help. After a conversation with the owner and manager, she was hired on the spot and immediately worked four hours.

“I loved the clothing, I loved the creativity that was involved,” Gluege said. “I just soaked it all in, all about working in a retail store, not thinking that I’d ever open one.”

Gluege ended up working at this boutique part-time for nearly a year before she had to leave from lack of hours available. Once she wasn’t working in retail anymore, her husband encouraged her to open up her own boutique. Gluege began to consider the idea more seriously because, as a self-professed artsy and creative type that loves textiles, she always had dreams of opening up a fiber arts gallery. A women’s boutique wasn’t a far throw from that.

Gluege began to take the necessary steps to put her boutique together: she hooked up with a business consultant, drew up a business plan and began scoping out spaces in which she could open up a boutique in her home town of Madison, Wisc. Just as her plans began to look hopeful in late February, Gluege’s husband’s job was eliminated.

“We were very thankful that we hadn’t signed any leases or taken out any loans or anything like that,” Gluege said. Her husband, also in the medical field, began to interview for a new position all across the country, and despite the couple’s wish to remain in Madison, he landed a job as director of laboratories at Carle Clinic here in Urbana.

By meeting new people in Urbana and networking with realtors and members of the Urbana Business Association, Gluege came across the space for The Wooden Hanger.

Gluege said the building was built in 1926, and throughout the ‘70s, it served as a pharmacy. Once the pharmacy closed, the building became used primarily for offices, so the general public hasn’t had a chance to access the space.

“The architecture is just outstanding,” Gluege said. “The woodwork is original, the floor is original. We kept as much of the original fixtures here and a lot of the old timers have been coming in and telling me their stories and it’s just been an awesome project.”

Gluege’s vision for The Wooden Hanger is to host a wide selection of women’s clothing made in the U.S. from sustainable materials like cotton, bamboo and hemp. Not only does Gluege’s earthy personality affect what she sells in her boutique, but also the 2008 election. This marked the halfway point in the whole process of opening up her business, and it really affected the way Gluege wanted to run her business.

“I want to contribute what I can to help this country get back on its feet and if that means buying American-made clothes, that’s what I want to do,” she said.

She said about 99 percent of her items are American made, but she hopes to reach 100 percent very soon.

And not only is Gluege running her business with a patriotic attitude, but also with one that allows her to nurture and empower women — something that crossed over from her nursing career.

“I just want people to come in, see the clothes, see what they can do,” Gluege said. “They can step outside their box. They don’t have to wear what everyone else is wearing. They can wear something a little more edgy, a little more artsy, and I think there’s a lot of women out there who have it within themselves that they want to step outside and be a little bit different but they’ve been afraid to and that’s what I’m offering here.”

And Gluege is excited to provide that option for the women of Champaign-Urbana.

“To give women the opportunity to own what they wear, to own who you are and you want to dress a little bit different? You can, and still not be over the edge,” said Gluege. “You can be comfortable and be yourself.”