Clara K and Cartabella was the first Indiana boutique to carry French Knot. When Lindsay and her husband Dan moved from Boston to Indiana in 2017, they visited this darling shop, sweetly nestled in the little artsy village of Broadripple.

Lindsay says that Clara K earns the first impression rose for Indiana! 

Ellen and Ghega are the sweetest most vibrant pair of shop owners and clearly have a keen eye for high-quality fashion and gift items!

The company is unique by the way they share the space as well as their expenses and are 2 separate LLC’s. This darling Indiana shop doesn't hire outside help, so when you visit you are greeted and cared for by the owners, creating a loyal customer base.

Clara K is very selective with the products they carry and only feature items they personally use and love, which is how they discovered French Knot! Ellen Schwartz had purchased French Knot accessories from the holiday Sundance Catalog. She quickly fell in love the with quality and style of the brand and reached out to Lindsay to inquire about purchasing wholesale.

The rest is history!

Since then, we have developed a warm and cheerful relationship with our beloved Indiana boutique.

Clara K and Cartabella also carry brands such as Izipizi, Sugar Boo, Natori, La Vie Parisienne, EmerginC and more.

Having French Knot relocated to Lafayette, Indiana from Massachusetts has made an impact on ClaraK boutique. Ellen and Ghega love telling their clients that their favorite holiday item or hand warmer is from a local Indiana company and we couldn't be more thrilled to be their neighbors! 

We had the pleasure of visiting Ellen and Ghega at their sweet little shop to personally deliver their fall items and to introduce our upcoming Spring 2020 line. These are the perks of living close to the company!

As Melissa and I are new to French Knot, we really enjoyed getting to know the heartbeat behind Clara K... 

As a retailer, how do you get through the rush of the holiday season?

*Lots of giggles*

Ellen - We get really excited about the holidays! We love the Christmas carols, the lights and all the festivities. The spirit of this time of year is really exciting. We get a lot of men that don’t normally shop in our store, coming in to shop for their wives, girlfriends and family and it’s always great to meet new customers! 

Ghega - During this time of year, we offer specials, have cookies for our customers to enjoy while they shop and do give-aways. We are also trying to engage more with Instagram. 

What keeps you motivated throughout the entire year? 

Ellen - The thing that keeps us motivated and makes us unique as shop owners, are that we are best friends and support each other. 

When we buy new products, we try to stay conservative. Which can be hard because we’ll get really excited about something and want to buy it all! Because there are two of us, we really observe and get to know our clients better. Our clients are unique, they are older {like us} and we really understand that it’s important to choose the right thing. 

What attracts customers to your store? 

Ellen - The most important thing, is creating an experience. We don’t hire any outside help, so it’s always Ghega or I at the shop and we try to make our customers’ experience super personal. 

We have a lot of clients that come here just to say, “hi” because they have become close friends. We have some young people who have recently married and think of us as their mom and they trust us. 

Ghega - One thing that may not be good for us, is that we are not here to sell.
*Roaring laughter*

As with your {French Knot} line, we are just so proud of Lindsay and love her brand. Sharing our excitement sells the products! 

We really love our products, our customers and our store and it shows.

We are lucky our husbands let us do this!

What is your most popular French Knot item? 

Ghega - Oh well, this year we don’t know yet! But {very emphatically} your tree toppers were a huge hit last year! We had customers fighting over your tree toppers!

Ellen - Ghega loved the tree topper so much that even when I wasn’t here, she was selling at least one a day!

Overall, the hand warmers are our greatest sellers. The dolls do really well all throughout the year. And people really love the hats. We get a lot of returning customers who come back every year, wanting a new French Knot hat. 

Is there any thing else you would like to share with our community? 

Ellen - We love telling people the story behind French Knot and how the knitters are fair trade. People who like our store, are people who don’t sit at home and order things online. And this is why we are still here. We have customers who come from out of town, like on a girls trip, and they come back to our store every year to see what’s new and to say hello! 

Ghega - And when we retire in 4.5 years, we will be coming to Nepal to meet the knitters. Tell Lindsay we are coming!

French Knot really helps our store to feel the way that it does. It makes our store, our customers and us feel more colorful and vibrant! Having French Knot in the store, helps to decorate and make the store what it is. 

It’s great when we sell it, but it sure looks nice in the shop! 

We want to thank Ellen and Ghega for their time and for their support! If you'd like to keep up with these vibrant ladies, you can find them on their Instagram account and Facebook.