UpStairs Boutique St. Pete Offers Fun Gifts, Humorous Cocktail Napkins, Vintage And More

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The second floor of Rollin' Oats Market features a newly opened business, Upstairs Boutique.

You might remember the upstairs used to be the home of St. Petersburg Yoga pre-pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic, owner Chris Acosta, turned his well-known yoga practice into total virtual training. Then Pilates by Leigh moved from her Fourth Street location to the upstairs studio located behind the front desk in January. The studio to the opposite side remained vacant until November.

Items in the store range from handbags, household goods, self-care products, baby clothing and pet items. Some items are made from recycled material, such as the Vintage Addiction handbags made from military tents. Another brand they carry, Living Royal, has socks that support minority communities such as LGBTQ, autism and more.

Bert Swain, owner of Rollin' Oats, said they entertained a lot of ideas but finally settled on operating their own retail space upstairs. Although it is in the same building as the organic grocery store, it has different vibes, according to spokesperson, Phoebe Marinelli.

"It was really the vision of Sarah (Beck) and Amy (Williams)," Marinelli told Patch. "Amy has been on our health and beauty team downstairs for years. Sarah has also been with the company for years, and they just created this vision upon starting to do the buying process."

Beck told Patch they wanted to find items that were unique and stylish, and finding some like the Vintage Addiction bags that also have a story behind them was a fantastic addition.

"Living Royal has a great selection of quirky, fun items and the fact that several have causes behind them is a huge bonus," Beck said.

One of the biggest challenges the company had while creating Upstairs Boutique was supply chain issues because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Some of the challenges with opening a new store right now were supply chain issues with orders, and starting new relationships with vendors," Beck said. "Being brand new to this particular sector, we had to find some that believed in us as a brand new storefront. We are so happy we were able to establish relationships with brands and vendors that agreed to be sold within our store from the very beginning.

Upstairs Boutique also formed a local partnership with Treehouse Gallery that provided a lot of the displays and fixtures around the store.

Hours of operation for Upstairs Boutique are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Beginning Jan. 8, they will be open Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information about their products, visit Upstairs Boutique, or visit their location upstairs from Rollin' Oats, 2842 Dr. MLK St. N., St. Pete.