Leigh Sewell, a former local Bon Secours executive, is opening a women’s clothing boutique called Monkee’s. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Sewell)
While standing in a Tennessee clothing boutique, Leigh Sewell had the idea to try a career change on for size.
The 17-year veteran of Bon Secours and self-described fashion fan was in Knoxville last spring visiting her daughter, a student at the University of Tennessee. A jaunt to a women’s clothing store called Bliss while on the trip turned Sewell’s mind to becoming a shop owner herself.
“One day you wake up and want to do something different,” Sewell said. “It seemed like a good time to make a change. I told my husband about it and he was like, ‘You mean in 10 years?’ and I was like ‘No, like in one year.’”
That set the stage for Sewell’s leap: Last month she left her job as president of Bon Secours’ Memorial Regional Medical Center in Mechanicsville and later this summer she’ll open a franchise of women’s clothing retailer Monkee’s in Carytown Exchange.
Sewell became familiar with Monkee’s as a customer, both at a store that once operated in the Richmond area and at other locations elsewhere in the Southeast.
“(I thought) it’d be fun to own my own store and the only thing that came to mind was Monkee’s because I love it so much,” Sewell said. “I’ve always been a retail therapy type of person, and it’s just a really fun environment.”
She is aiming for an Aug. 11 opening day for the Carytown store, which has a lease on a 1,800-square-foot space in the same retail strip as the center’s Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and Torchy’s Tacos.
Sewell estimated she’s spent a couple hundred thousand dollars on build out, inventory and franchise fees tied to the launch of the store. She said the Carytown Exchange shopping center’s location coupled with its own dedicated parking lot made it an appealing place to plant a flag.
“What makes Exchange so great is you have parking behind (the store’s location in the center) but you also benefit from the walkability of Carytown,” Sewell said.
Sewell said the store will carry clothing by brands like Anna Cate, Marie Oliver and Tyler Boe. She plans to carve out her niche in Carytown’s women’s apparel scene with an emphasis on cocktail dresses and college game-day attire, in addition to everyday clothing.
“Working in the corporate world, I’ve always been looking for work clothes or event clothes. Sometimes that’s hard to come by in Richmond. Some feedback I’ve heard is a lot of people remember getting rehearsal dinner dresses at a Monkee’s,” Sewell said. “In the fall I’m going to have a game-day section. In Richmond, I feel like we’re seeing more and more people go to out-of-state schools where football is really big.”
Sewell’s store marks a return to the Richmond market for Monkee’s, a North Carolina-based chain with about 45 locations in multiple states.
A Monkee’s under different local ownership opened in the region in 2010, but later its owners went independent and rebranded as Quinn at 5003 Huguenot Road, according to a 2019 Richmond Times-Dispatch report.
The first Monkee’s opened in 1995 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
And Sewell isn’t stopping at one store. Plans are already in the works for her second Monkee’s outpost, which is slated to open in Virginia but outside the Richmond area.
Sewell said it was difficult to part with Bon Secours after nearly two decades with the health system, including the last five as president of Memorial Regional. But she said her tenure there, as well as a nine-year stint with electronics retailer Circuit City before that, has given her skills in inventory management, purchasing and customer service that she can apply in her next professional chapter.
“Being there 17 years, I developed so many friendships and relationships. Memorial was really like home to me,” she said. “They’re all service industries. You could argue every business has a customer. … All those lessons I can take with me to Monkee’s.”
Leigh Sewell, a former local Bon Secours executive, is opening a women’s clothing boutique called Monkee’s. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Sewell)
While standing in a Tennessee clothing boutique, Leigh Sewell had the idea to try a career change on for size.
The 17-year veteran of Bon Secours and self-described fashion fan was in Knoxville last spring visiting her daughter, a student at the University of Tennessee. A jaunt to a women’s clothing store called Bliss while on the trip turned Sewell’s mind to becoming a shop owner herself.
“One day you wake up and want to do something different,” Sewell said. “It seemed like a good time to make a change. I told my husband about it and he was like, ‘You mean in 10 years?’ and I was like ‘No, like in one year.’”
That set the stage for Sewell’s leap: Last month she left her job as president of Bon Secours’ Memorial Regional Medical Center in Mechanicsville and later this summer she’ll open a franchise of women’s clothing retailer Monkee’s in Carytown Exchange.
Sewell became familiar with Monkee’s as a customer, both at a store that once operated in the Richmond area and at other locations elsewhere in the Southeast.
“(I thought) it’d be fun to own my own store and the only thing that came to mind was Monkee’s because I love it so much,” Sewell said. “I’ve always been a retail therapy type of person, and it’s just a really fun environment.”
She is aiming for an Aug. 11 opening day for the Carytown store, which has a lease on a 1,800-square-foot space in the same retail strip as the center’s Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and Torchy’s Tacos.
Sewell estimated she’s spent a couple hundred thousand dollars on build out, inventory and franchise fees tied to the launch of the store. She said the Carytown Exchange shopping center’s location coupled with its own dedicated parking lot made it an appealing place to plant a flag.
“What makes Exchange so great is you have parking behind (the store’s location in the center) but you also benefit from the walkability of Carytown,” Sewell said.
Sewell said the store will carry clothing by brands like Anna Cate, Marie Oliver and Tyler Boe. She plans to carve out her niche in Carytown’s women’s apparel scene with an emphasis on cocktail dresses and college game-day attire, in addition to everyday clothing.
“Working in the corporate world, I’ve always been looking for work clothes or event clothes. Sometimes that’s hard to come by in Richmond. Some feedback I’ve heard is a lot of people remember getting rehearsal dinner dresses at a Monkee’s,” Sewell said. “In the fall I’m going to have a game-day section. In Richmond, I feel like we’re seeing more and more people go to out-of-state schools where football is really big.”
Sewell’s store marks a return to the Richmond market for Monkee’s, a North Carolina-based chain with about 45 locations in multiple states.
A Monkee’s under different local ownership opened in the region in 2010, but later its owners went independent and rebranded as Quinn at 5003 Huguenot Road, according to a 2019 Richmond Times-Dispatch report.
The first Monkee’s opened in 1995 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
And Sewell isn’t stopping at one store. Plans are already in the works for her second Monkee’s outpost, which is slated to open in Virginia but outside the Richmond area.
Sewell said it was difficult to part with Bon Secours after nearly two decades with the health system, including the last five as president of Memorial Regional. But she said her tenure there, as well as a nine-year stint with electronics retailer Circuit City before that, has given her skills in inventory management, purchasing and customer service that she can apply in her next professional chapter.
“Being there 17 years, I developed so many friendships and relationships. Memorial was really like home to me,” she said. “They’re all service industries. You could argue every business has a customer. … All those lessons I can take with me to Monkee’s.”
Congrats on your bold move! Wishing you all the best!