Boutique store with custom hat and denim bar opening in downtown Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS – Downtown Idaho Falls is taking on a life of its own as new businesses continue to move in. Hollie Albertson is thrilled to be among the tenants in that part of town.
The Idaho Falls woman owns Wild As You, a boutique store with a custom hat and denim bar. It’s opening Nov. 21 inside the old Rogers building at 545 Shoup Avenue, Suite 101. The 1,200-square-foot space, which is still under construction, will offer a design studio where customers can create their own hats or denim jackets. Albertson and her team will then put it together.
“It’ll be available for private parties. We can do bridal showers or birthday parties,” Albertson tells EastIdahoNews.com. “We’re going to have kids’ stuff in here as well.”
Additional items will also be available for sale. Although customers can reserve the space for private occasions, the store will maintain regular hours on Tuesday through Thursday.
Albertson hopes to add a salon or tattoo parlor in the back room of the space.
A grand opening celebration will be held on Nov. 21 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Customers are invited to come and mingle inside the shop and enjoy some hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine.
Albertson was inspired to open Wild As You after seeing a similar business in Scottsdale, Arizona, earlier this year.
“I took my girls on a trip down there. I walked into a store and bought a jacket. My girlfriend made a jacket. I walked out and thought, I think we need one of these in Idaho Falls,” Albertson says. “I came back and started buying stuff and looking for space.”
Albertson enjoys seeing the activity in downtown and loves the idea of opening in such an iconic location.
“I love (the Rogers) building. It’s been iconic since I was a kid,” she says.
The Rogers building dates back to 1926 and was originally the home of The Virginia Hotel, according to the Museum of Idaho. B.M. “Brunt” Rogers, one of Idaho Falls’ first millionaires, was its namesake. Historical records show a number of prominent guests stayed there through the years. Among them is President Herbert Hoover, former Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, former California Gov. Ronald Reagan, singer Bing Crosby and actors Gary Cooper and Roy Rogers.
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The B Street building sat vacant for most of the 1940s before Idaho Falls Hardware took it over in the ’50s. It became an annex for the Bon Marche in the 1970s after it was empty for nearly a decade.
It was a water bed retailer for several years before makeup and cosmetic supplier Beauty for All Seasons opened sometime in the 1980s. In 2021, Harris Publishing owner Jason Harris told us the makeup business operated in that location for about 20 years before the Harris family bought it in 2000.
Albertson’s husband, Justin, is the owner of Greenskeeper Landscape & Excavation. He’s looking to retire and Hollie sees her shop as a fun project to get involved in with her daughters for the next phase of life.
Her goal is to see the business grow. She hopes to eventually open another location in Jackson and in Nashville, Tennessee.
“My girlfriend lives there (in Nashville) and they don’t have one (of these shops) there,” Hollie says.
Operating hours are subject to change, but Hollie is shooting for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. She plans to be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
