By James Bell
Hays Post
Bargain Hunters in Hays now have another prime location to find apparel and housewares with the opening of bin shop’n Boutique and Gifts, inside the Big Creek Crossing shopping center.
Even with a $3.99 price tag on everything daily, the location reflects more of a boutique shopping experience than traditional bin shopping.
In a bin store, items for sale are typically placed in their namesake bins, where shoppers can dig through items separated by price, sourced from overstocked or closeout items from large retailers.
But alongside a more upscale experience, bin shop’n Boutique and Gifts features more clothing and shoes alongside assorted personal care items and stands apart from the primary bin shop’n brand.
“I always like to say that the bin shop’n experience is like an elevated experience to the bin shop,” said Nicole Heneha, director of business and operations. “Because even at other bin shopping type of facilities, we're just taking a step up.”
That desire to create a better bin shopping experience led to development of the Boutique and Gifts locations.
“Where we really take pride in what we do is, even in our bins stores, we've taken the time to separate our clothing from all the other stuff that goes in the bins,” Heneha said. “So if you walk into our big stores that are the bins in Hutchinson, Great Bend, Salina and Wichita, you'll notice that none of our clothing is in the bins. We've sorted it out.”
In the Boutique and Gifts locations, that process is even more at the forefront and takes advantage of the growing amount of clothing assembled across their network of locations.
“We have so much clothing that we decided to start opening the bin shop’n Boutiques, and so in the stores, there’s something for everyone,” Heneha said. “Then we brought in our health and beauty and some home goods. Even at this location for the very first time, we brought in some things for animals, dog toys. We brought in gardening stuff for part of our gifts, and we've been selling them.”
Tentatively the location is set to be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. Sundays, but as the quick-moving business develops, those hours may change.
To see daily inventory selections and current hours visit the location’s Facebook page, facebook.com/binshopnboutiqueandgiftshays.
Fast growth model
The Hays location is just another in the company’s fast-growing chain, with locations throughout Kansas and beyond.
“I started January 1, and this is my 10th store. Ten boutiques and one bin store, so 11,” Heneha said.
Part of the growth model includes malls in Salina and Wichita but also has stand-alone locations in smaller communities, with new locations planned in both malls and smaller population centers, along routes to established locations.
With a headquarters in Hutchinson, the chain's ability to grow stems from the organization in backend systems and warehousing.
“We've really fine-tuned those processes to be able to set a store,” Heneha said.
From that system, they can move into new locations and open quickly.
The lease agreement for the Hays location was set on June 8, and the initial products came in the same day.
“We set this store in a day and a half essentially,” Heneha said. “We bought our first load of clothing because we knew we were going to accept it. Then we came Monday morning with the next part of our products and set the store Monday and Tuesday. And we were done. Then we walked in (Friday) for the grand opening.”
Big Creek Crossing impact
Big Creek Crossing marketing director Branson Hoffman said they are “excited” about adding bin shop’n Boutique and Gifts.
“We noticed shopping trends are going in that direction,” Hoffman said. “You look at Dollar Tree down there. You look at bin shopping, and just some of the biggest chains that are opening up left and right are your Marshalls’, your Burlington’s, it's like those discounted sort of shopping in retail. That's what's really booming right now.”
While many of the most recent tenants taking space in the shopping center have chosen to create exterior entrances, he said having tenants like bin shop’n Boutique and Gifts and other smaller and more local-based shopping options appeals to their regular clientele and helps to fill exterior spots.
“It is nice to be able to fill those spaces here,” Hoffman said. “[We] are always looking for great opportunities and great mom-and-pops that would be interested and feasible for those empty bays that we are talking about.”