Our Story

In 2004, I came up with the idea for Ribbons and Bows.  It all began with the idea to register brides for their lingerie shower, and at the time, there was no place in Lubbock where a bride could register her lingerie selections. With the support and encouragement from my family, I set out with $1,000 from savings and an idea. I began searching for lingerie lines that were conducive to what I had in mind. I came up with a name. I participated in the summer Bridal Faire to promote myself with brides. My idea was to have a bride choose her selections from catalogs and the inventory I was slowly accumulating and then take her selections to her lingerie shower. I would set up all of her items (on mannequins donated from Sears, no less! I still use those mannequins!) and guests would shop there at the party, with the assurance that the bride had chosen those selections and liked the color, style, fit, etc… While guests enjoyed the party, I wrapped all of the gifts and brought them out when she was ready to open presents. It was a fun and fairly easy process that I tweaked and made my own until I had a system that worked for everyone involved.

God blessed my business and I began to do more and more parties. It seems each party provided a referral for another party and that party provided a referral to another party to the point that I was doing several parties a month and began to look for other ways to grow my business. I wanted desperately to open my own store, (I was working out of our spare bedroom which my husband jokingly called “the panty room”) but knew financially it was not possible.  I had lunch with my dear friend Alisa one day and I remember her telling me to go for it, that if I wanted to open a store I needed to work towards it, that I had the ability to do it, among other encouraging words.  I decided to put myself in a path that would grow my business and went to Bella’s Bridal that afternoon with the intent of asking for a part time job helping brides choose their wedding gown. My thought process was that working in a bridal setting would afford me the opportunity to tell brides about my business. Instead of asking for an application like I origninally planned, I asked the owner if she had any space I could rent to open up my own “little shop.”  To make a long story short, I had a meeting with the owner two days later and had a key to the shop and moved my inventory in the following Monday.

I spent the next ten months learning all that I could about business from the owner of Bellas, growing my inventory, learning the best marketing strategies for reaching brides, figuring out how to be a boss, finding new lines to carry at the store, and graduating with a Communications degree from LCU in May of 2006. I was fortunate enough to put everything I earned into savings and my husband and I learned how to live off of one income.  After graduation I knew I needed to either open my own store or put this business dream of mine away and get a “real job.” I was outgrowing the space that once seemed so big in Bellas and they were about to renovate and needed the area I was using. Knowing I would regret it the rest of my life if I didn’t give it a try, my husband and family once again pushed me to go for it, and we began looking for the perfect location to open my own store.

I found that location at 82nd and Quaker in the Village Shopping Center and on July 31st, 2006 I opened for business in my new location.  God has blessed this business and allowed me to grow and change as my customers needs have changed. We used to specialize only on the bridal aspect but now offer sleepwear, bras, maternity, nursing, children’s sleepwear, robes, shapewear, as well as our personalized bridal apparel, wedding night trousseau, and free bridal registry service. I hope you will join our family of customers and become part of our story at Ribbons and Bows.