A trip to Jema Lane Boutique is more like trying on clothes from your stylish sister or best friend's closet than flipping through rack after rack at the mall.
Offering a personalized approach to shopping is what owner Jani Davis has aimed for since opening the women's clothing boutique in Spokane Valley 10 years ago.
The shop has been in its current location inside a historic, 1909-built former house at 323 S. Pines Rd. — just minutes from I-90 — since late 2018. Throughout the building's original first-floor layout are tables stacked with denim and shoes, racks of dresses and tops, and displays of accessories and jewelry.
"When I first opened, my goal was that there wasn't anyone who came in and left feeling bad about themselves," Davis says. "We go from size extra small to 3XL. I want everyone to feel good when they come in, and the girls who work for me are amazing at customer service. We want everyone to feel like they have a personal shopping experience when they come here."
The store's name is a tribute to the first initials of Davis's four daughters: Janae, Erin, Megan and Ashley. Davis also has three sons, and says all the kids help out in various ways. Daughter Janae Madsen is Jema Lane's manager.
Styles stocked at Jema Lane reflect casual, contemporary trends in women's fashion; nothing too formal, fad-driven or high end, but rather pieces that can be mixed and matched, or dressed up or down. Think, a chunky, cozy sweater over a drapey tank worn with jeans and ankle booties, accessorized with statement earrings.
New pieces arrive weekly, along with one featured sale item called "Jem of the Week." In 2017, Davis expanded Jema Lane's reach online, offering a selection of its inventory to customers anywhere, and for local customers to purchase and pick up in store.
As a small local business in an industry that offers countless choices to consumers, Davis says Jema Lane's success all goes back to the business's personalized customer service.
"Our customers become friends," she says. "We get to know about their lives and we spend time with them when they come in, and they feel comfortable here."
2nd PLACE: Swank; 3rd PLACE: Veda Lux; NORTH IDAHO'S BEST: T-Blue Boutique, Coeur d'Alene
