Saluting Women Owned Businesses in the Stateline: Roxy Carmichael in Rockford
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By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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Business: Roxy Carmichael Boutique
Owner: Christine LaMantia
Location: 310 N. Alpine Road, Rockford
Contact: 815-316-7396
On the web: roxycarmichael.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday
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About: Roxy Carmichael, which opened in 2007 under different ownership, offers unique clothing, fashion accessories and gift items for women of all budgets.
Christine LaMantia took over the business in 2018 after purchasing it from the previous owners, who retired.
“We have faithful customers and repeat customers and it’s just a joy to be here every day and meet our customers who have become our friends,” LaMantia said. “It’s nice that we are a small location shop that people feel happy to come back to.”
Roxy Carmichael offers moderate to high-end fashion, gifts and Rockford products such as Bygone Brand’s Rockford Peaches sweatshirts and T-shirts.
“It’s not like the big box stores,” LaMantia said. “We have a small environment and people feel welcome here and they come back and they support the local business.”
The store is operated by LaMantia, who has three part-time employees.
“We have unique products. We get four of them instead of 40, so you don’t see yourself coming and going in an outfit that somebody else has.”
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Giving back: The business also does fundraising for several nonprofits in town, such as fill the barrel for the Rock River Fall Pantry, support for Rockford Meld and a fashion show fundraiser for Remedies Renewing Lives.
“We try to give back to the community that gives back to us,” LaMantia said.
On being a women-owned business: “As women business owners we support each other, we’re not in competition with each other,” LaMantia said.
“We each have our unique niche of what we bring to our town, so we all just need to support each other and put us all in this together.”
If it’s a competition between local business owners, it’s not fun, she said.
“When we do this and support each other, it’s fun to come to work and it’s a fun place to be.”
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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.
