Mattie Coleman, owner of Towne Boutique, moved to Muncie over 60 years ago with her five children, a little black suitcase and a sewing machine.
Mattie Coleman, owner of Towne Boutique, moved to Muncie over 60 years ago with her five children, a little black suitcase and a sewing machine.
Coleman made a name for herself from her home, where she designed and sewed clothing and hats. Eventually, Coleman opened a central location downtown.
“I remember one thing when we got the business downtown. My daughter told me, ‘Mom, we’re going to have to move,’” Coleman said.
Before Coleman agreed to anything, she prayed about it.
“I saw this little place in a dream and we went down to talk to the man about it and we decided we gonna move there,” Coleman said. “So that’s what got me out of my house. So, I made a living before I went in the building. I bought my first Mercedes and paid for my retirement home working out of my home.”
In May, Coleman had a stroke. She was in Ball Memorial Hospital for about a month, her granddaughter Asha Hobbs said. After her stay there, she was taken to Westminster Village on Bethel Avenue to continue her recovery.
Since Coleman’s stroke, Hobbs moved in with her to help with her recovery. However, Hobbs said Coleman has always gone “100 miles per hour” so getting her to slow down has been the hardest part of the recovery process.
“She’s got the spirit of a 25-year-old, we have trouble keeping up with her,” Hobbs said.
Even during her childhood, Asha said, Coleman was always working and teaching.
“I think one of the biggest things I did learn from grandma, and to this day, I will quote it to other people, she said, ‘Never, ever spend your last dime,’” Hobbs said. “So I, to this day, have one dollar bill and it is underneath this little angels blessing box that I have ... and that is the one dollar I will never, ever spend.”
During her time in the hospital and Westminster Village, Coleman closed the location on Walnut Street. She had to be out by Aug. 31.
“I’m not out of business at the Towne Boutique,” Coleman said. “I never told nobody I was closing, in fact I didn’t know I was going to close myself. But when I got ill, I had to shut down. I was not going to pay $1,400 a month and I’m not there.”
Towne Boutique is now located in White River Plaza. The space has yet to be set up for retail, but Coleman said customers can call her old business line for an in-house appointment.
For Coleman, business didn’t rely on the sign above her door.
“The shop was really just a name for me, because I’ve always earned my business, earned money out of my home,” Coleman said.
But closing the location on Walnut Street didn’t concern Coleman. She still took orders while she was in the hospital.
“I didn’t get upset and worry about why this happened,” Coleman said. “I said, ‘Well, I know the Lord have a way to set you down and make you think.’ That’s what happened to me.”
Along with her faith, she knew her reputation would keep her busy despite the move.
“Once you make a name for yourself, you never go out of business,” Coleman said. “Everybody, your customers, you got them and it goes down through generation.”
Coleman’s new storefront is in White River Plaza located at 2100 W. White River Blvd.
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