From Salon to Boutique

Sweet Olive & Company Boutique opens new Greenwood location

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing

Photographer / Brian Brosmer

Kat Murray has always loved shopping boutiques because they tend to carry specialty items that can’t be found at retail outlets. Though she always dreamed of someday running her own boutique, she had another dream as well, becoming a mom.

In July 2016, Murray and her friend and former coworker, Erica Dildine, opened Sweet Olive & Company, a hair salon in Franklin, Ind. Two months later, her baby dream became a reality when she learned she was pregnant. Shortly after her daughter, Linnleigh, was born, Murray saw her other vision through to fruition when she and Dildine added a boutique to their salon.

The ladies decided to expand once more in December 2016, opening a second store in Greenwood — this one solely a boutique.

Greenwood is home to Murray. It’s where she was raised, and in 2010 she graduated from Center Grove High School. Today she’s still really involved in the community. She helps out with the show choir program at Center Grove and her husband, Matthew, builds sets for the theatre department and sets up live streaming for the football team.

Located at 1675 W. Smith Valley Road, Sweet Olive & Company Boutique carries HomeGoods products perfect for baby and wedding showers, including kids’ clothing, picture frames, jewelry and pillows. One hot seller is the Moda Luxe 100 percent genuine leather bags.

“We can’t keep them in stock,” Murray says. Another fun item is a line of bracelets called Erimish, a personalized bracelet bar where customers can pick and choose to create their own stack.

“People have a lot of fun with that,” Murray says.

The co-owners have vastly different fashion palates, which Murray perceives as an asset because that way the store carries something for everyone’s taste.

“We’re like the characters in the show Gossip Girl,” Murray says. “My style is similar to Blair Waldorf — very classic, simple yet elegant. Erica is like Serena van der Woodsen. She’s more of a risk taker when it comes to her clothes — edgier and more risqué.”

Dildine spends a good portion of her time styling hair in the Franklin location, while Murray stays focused on motherhood and the Greenwood store where she feels right at home.

“I love the fact that people can walk through the door and we immediately know each other,” says Murray, noting that her favorite thing about owning a boutique is helping her customers feel good about themselves.