The Closet Swap started out as a party idea!

It was just after all the holiday festivities in 2005 and we were hunting another "get together", We were going to have a "Closet Swap" party at my house (Tara) with all of our friends and find treasures in each others closet!

Until...............I got a hair-brained idea.......why not make it an actual store? I had moved from SanDiego, CA about 3 yrs previously and always shopped resale. Kelly had moved back from Atlanta to Santa Rosa Beach about 1 yr after I arrived on the Emerald Coast and she too was missing the bargains!
So, let me give you a little history first.

We were best friends from the time we had our first beer together in 1993 at FSU! At the same time I met Kel, I had also met John, my husband. Both of them were from Destin, FL. (which coming from Tampa, I had never heard of?)…ok. I know that’s crazy, but us South Florida folk don’t vacation up here!

Long story short, Kelly and I always told each other, that when she got back to the Emerald Coast, and I eventually moved here because of John (because who doesn’t move back if they grew up here) we would open up our own Store!

Coffee in the morning together, Gossiping about who knows what, and of course, wearing amazing designers, but never paying the Retail Price!

So, here’s how it shook down. I called Kel, pitched the idea, she said “let’s do it”, I said, “really” and that was it……6wks later…..we opened “THE CLOSET SWAP,INC”

Did I forget to mention that I just had a baby 5mos prior (Kerrigan - you’ll see her running around the store)

So, The Closet Swap had a 4yr reign in Destin and frankly did amazing, Kel went on to have 2 kids ( Grace and Wilson) and I had 1 more (Christian) …..but it was time for a change, it was time to expand…time to move forward and move Green!

We are now Located in DWTN Fort Walton Beach, in an amazing building, Exposed Beams, completely industrial, Simple yet Chic and above all else…..Double in SIZE!

Everything in the New Store is either RECYCLED, REFURBISHED or REPURPOSED!

That’s right, the only thing that I bought off the shelf and brand new was the wood to build my walls and floors and the paint to make it beautiful!

The Closet Swap, not only represents Amazing Apparel without Designer prices, but a way of living….living your best, living green and saving money!

Kel decided to let me ride it out in Fort Walton Bch, since she lives in Blue Mountain, so I am going at it alone…but you never know when you could see a Closet Swap pop up in South Walton?