Meet Gretchen Gilliam | Owner, The Hive A Pop Up Collective & Glamour Gypsies

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gretchen Gilliam and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gretchen, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

I have always dreamed of having a boutique and creating a fun atmosphere for people to shop. In fact, my original major at University of Texas was in Textiles and Apparel but I switched to the Business school in the first week. A degree in Business Marketing came in handy because I spent the next 30+ years in commercial real estate. Knowing the business side of owning a boutique is very important. It may not be the most glamorous part but essential when it comes to bookkeeping, taxes etc.

I “reinvented” myself in my mid-50s and circled back to my dream job by renovating an old motor home into a “fashion truck”. My first buying trip was to the LA Market and even though I thought I knew what I was doing, it did not take long to find out I did not! I was not afraid of asking questions, revealing my inexperience, and was very lucky that everyone there was happy to help me.

After 2 years of taking the Glamour Gypsies fashion truck to markets all over Houston and beyond, I became involved in a brick and mortar store shared by other pop-up businesses. When that business lost its lease in 2019, one of the other vendors (Dulce David) and I decided to create our own collective. We thought of a name and logo, set up bank accounts, rented a space, signed up others, and opened up the The Hive – A Pop Up Collective all within a month!

Finding a great partner to start the business with was very fortunate. Dulce took over the “creative” duties and I handled the back-office side. We came up with a game plan based on what we had seen that worked and most importantly, what did not work! Finding the right mix of other business owners to join us as Showroom Partners has been crucial to The Hive’s success. We are all so helpful to each other and have become very good friends along the way.

In June 2020, we found a perfect location for The Hive in Rice Village (2431 Rice Blvd.) and moved in during the middle of the pandemic. We felt that people wanted an in-store shopping experience where they could touch items, try on clothes and be a part of the community. In 2023, I became the sole owner of The Hive.

What should our readers know about your business?
While I was still working in real estate, I spent much of my free time learning as much as possible about owning a retail business. This included joining Facebook groups, listening to podcasts, and reading many books & articles about the business. I visited other shops and took notes on how I was treated, what made their store unique, how they displayed their merchandise etc. I also tried to just be quiet and listen. The art of listening is challenging to me because I love to talk! But you can learn so many things if you just sit back and absorb what is going on around you. Everything that I learned was very insightful and The Hive incorporates the best of my findings.

For example, one of the biggest complaints I heard from other boutique owners was how hard it was to find good, dependable people to work at their stores. At The Hive, the Showroom Partners staff the store and have a vested interest in its success. Our customers can tell that we care about giving them great service along with having a good time. Each of the 12 Showroom Partners bring different styles and inventory to the floor every week. You can find ladies clothing for every age, along with jewelry, bags, candles, shoes, and home decor. Being a small, locally-owned business, we can do things a little differently than a corporate-owned store. For example, we offer water, wine, bubbles, mimosas, and tequila to our customers (over 21 of course) which makes coming to The Hive so much fun! We host parties and business events at The Hive along with inviting up-and-coming brands to “pop-in” on the weekends. We don’t mind “coloring outside the lines” when it comes to creating an interesting and special place to shop.

 Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would start in Rice Village for unique shopping and great restaurants. And of course a stop by The Hive! Rice Village is full of locally-owned shops and we should all support small businesses whenever possible. I would plan the trip to coincide with the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (March 4 -23, 2025). I am a 30+ year volunteer along with being a Director of the “Show”. This organization constantly amazes me with the outstanding rodeo, entertainment and livestock events while providing educational support within the community. I have met many of my best friends and mentors from my volunteer work at the Rodeo. A day trip from Houston would involve visiting Round Top for shopping or Galveston for great seafood.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shout out is to the Showroom Partners of The Hive. I am surrounded by wonderful women who love what they are doing and happy to help in any way. We constantly bounce ideas off each other and pitch in when needed to make The Hive the best boutique it can be. We have so much fun together and our customers can feel this positive energy when they shop with us. One of the reasons we named our store “The Hive” is because a bee hive is only successful if every bee in the hive does their job and supports each other. I love this quote “Anyone who thinks they’re too small to make a difference has never met the honey bee”. This saying really does relate to The Hive and we are excited to be starting our 5th year at the Rice Village location in July 2024.

Website: https://www.thehivepopup.com

Instagram: @thehivepopup

Facebook: The Hive – A Pop Up Collective

Image Credits
Connect Media Firm and Alexanders Portraits