Heart Clothing Boutique will celebrate its one-month anniversary this weekend. Owner Vanessa Lopez said her new business has exceeded her expectations since its grand opening during October’s Second Saturday Art Walk.

“It was a really quick start,” Lopez said. “But it’s been a great first month.”

In a small space off Capitol Avenue, Lopez found a location and an opportunity that she said she couldn’t pass up. After signing a lease, she made it a goal to open for Second Saturday, which gave her only a month to decorate, stock and prepare the boutique for business.

“My family, my boyfriend and my friends helped a lot,” Lopez said. Lopez has been taking business classes. She went against what some of her counselors advised, who warned her against opening a new business during these economically unstable times.

"It was something I was going to do anyway, so I went for it,” Lopez said. “I went with my gut, and it’s nice when that works in your favor.”

She runs the boutique on her own, seven days a week, with a second job at Plum Blossom as support for her new endeavor. Lopez is not a rookie to retail, however, having managed the Ikon Boutique in downtown Sacramento until it closed a few years ago.

From that job she’d met vendors in Los Angeles who she continues to do business with, picking out clothing from tradeshows in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

The boutique offers clothing, shoes, bracelets, handbags and more. “The accessories are the biggest sellers,” she said.

Lopez said the design of the boutique is meant to be eclectic and inspiring. A porcelain deer head hangs above a shelf of strappy shoes near a plush green couch by the bay window where mannequins display current trends.

Two rows of shirts line either wall with merchandise tables between them. The dressing room area is made private with a heavy green curtain near the checkout counter and accessory display case.

“The store has a very intimate and personalized feeling,” Lopez said. “I listen to each customer’s needs and really help them find what they want.”

Lopez said everything she sells is reasonably priced, from a $5 bracelet to a $100 jacket, and customers can walk away with a good purchase without emptying their wallets.

Heart Clothing Boutique is located at 1903 Capitol Ave.