Posted on August 2, 2019

“Originality is what we do best,” says owner

By Caitlan Butler
Staff Writer

Jacob George / News-Times

Perfects: The Perfects on Main had a ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday as they celebrated their grand opening.

Pictured from left to right are V Pennington, Samantha Guzman, Cindy Leveritt, Carolyn Powell,

Caitlyn Powell, Bri Powell, Parker Nix cutting the ribbon, owner Becky Powell, Jordan Carter, Jacee Newcomb,

Makenzie Malone, Callie Waller and Dianne Hammond.

Customers were lined up yesterday morning for the grand opening of the Perfects on Main, downtown El Dorado’s newest women’s boutique.

Owner Becky Powell said the grand opening was very successful, with the store staying full all morning. In the afternoon, the Perfects joined other downtown businesses for First Thursday, partnering with WoodmenLife to provide photo opportunities and hamburgers and hot dogs for the ‘luau’ themed celebration.

“It has been slammed. We’ve had eight and 10 people lined up at the checkout counter,” Powell said yesterday morning.

Powell works with her daughters, Bri and Caitlyn, to run the Perfects on Main, along with two other boutique locations in Camden and Magnolia. Along with the boutiques, Powell also has a massage parlor, tanning salon and cafés.

“Both my daughters graduated high school, went to college, got their four-year degrees, pursued their dreams and found out that this was where their heart was at,” she said. “We all bring something different to the Perfects. Bri’s the one, she loves the online sales, so she has really grown our online business with that. Caitlyn is like the face of the Perfects with social media, people love interacting with her. And me, I just am who I am. I tell people being at the Perfects is like being at a family reunion every day.”

The Perfects is a boutique selling women’s and children’s apparel, shoes, accessories, gifts and some beauty products. The store will have a small bridal registry as well, Powell said.

The family sources their products from markets around the country, primarily ones in Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas. Powell said her boutiques get new inventory every day.

“We get in tons of apparel every day. That’s one thing that is so successful with us – we buy in small quantities, so you’re not seeing everybody on the street corner [in the same outfit],” she said. “My one tagline that I’ve had since I opened is ‘original is what we do best.’ We don’t watch what other stores do, we don’t follow anybody. We do our own thing.”

Powell opened her first business, The Perfect Touch, a massage parlor in Camden, in 2008 after overcoming a heart-related illness. She decided to fulfill a lifelong dream in earning her massage therapy license after undergoing a medical procedure to treat her illness.

A year later, she opened the Perfect Cup Café in Camden, followed soon after by the Perfect Glo, a tanning salon in Camden, and finally the Perfect Fit, the first of her boutiques, also located in Camden.

In 2017, she expanded again, opening a second boutique location in Magnolia; now there is a Perfect Cup Café & Eatery in downtown Magnolia as well.

With her opening today, Powell’s businesses are now represented in every corner of the Golden Triangle. She said she never expected to see her business grow so much.

“It’s truly been a blessing. I wish I could say I had the vision for all this, but I didn’t. It’s just a God thing,” she said. “I’m extremely blessed and I know I am. Nobody can build a business like this on their own.”

Working as a family, there is always a Powell (or a Powell-Daniel, in Bri’s case) in each city their stores are located in. While Becky Powell doesn’t expect to add other services at this time, she hasn’t 100 percent ruled the idea out.

“Never say never,” she said. “I never say never, but right now, I live in the day every day, taking care of what I need to take care of for that time and then whatever opportunities arise, I always search them out and try to figure out if that’s a door I’m supposed to walk through.”

Yesterday’s grand opening also acted as a launch of the Perfects’ children’s apparel line, Perfect Little’s, as well as a re-branding effort for the stores, adding a new logo and the slogan “live your perfect life.”

“And then the new awning is our new logo as well,” she said.

The Perfects on Main is located at 115 E. Main St., in the former location of Kai Sra. The owner of Kai Sra could not be reached for comment, but according to a post on the boutique’s Instagram, she decided to close the store in order to spend more time with her family.

Powell plans to use innovation to stand out. For example, yesterday and today, she is personally paying the sales tax on sales to extend the tax-free holiday weekend for customers, a tradition she’s kept up for six years.

“We’ve got stuff going on all day today,” Powell said, also mentioning swagbags some of the day’s first customers received and a giveaway for a $50 gift card to the store.

She said working with other small, local businesses and the community is important to her. The Perfects also have significant online presence, having made sales in 46 states, Powell said.

To learn more about the Perfects on Main, visit shoptheperfects.com or facebook.com/shoptheperfects. The Perfects on Main will be open today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or cbutler@eldoradonews.com.

Jacob George / News-Times

Customers filled the Perfects on Main during their grand opening yesterday morning. Owner

Becky Powell said customers were in lines of eight to 10 people throughout the morning.