Checking in with...Boutiquing.com:

As all ladies know, shopping is an intensely individual experience. Finding a store or designer that dovetails perfectly with one’s own personality can be the highlight of a day (or week). Enter Boutiquing.com, a Costa Mesa-based blog that seeks to pre-evaluate area stores for their devoted readers. Co-founder April Madigan and her crew separate the wheat from the chaff — and give away tons of goodies during their popular Facebook Friday giveaways.

What made you decide to found Boutiquing.com?

We recognized how hard it was to find small boutiques. There is nothing better than discovering a hidden gem of a boutique, and we wanted to find and feature more of them. With firsthand experience working in boutiques, we also saw how expensive traditional advertising can be. At this point we realized boutiques are looking for shoppers and shoppers are looking for boutiques. Our passion for boutique shopping led us to create the word “boutiquing,” which we defined as the act of seeking out and indulging in the best boutique shopping experiences.

What was the hardest part about launching it?

As you can imagine, it is very time consuming to drive around searching for the best boutiques. It is also labor-intensive to creatively and effectively put to words the experience we felt shopping at each boutique. Anyone can make a list of addresses, but it takes attention to detail and personal experience to describe the individual style, customer service and vibe of each boutique. We have received numerous e-mails from boutique owners wondering how we were able to reflect their store so perfectly before ever having met them.

What kinds of things can people learn from the site?

Where to shop! Boutiquing.com breaks down boutiques by city, making it easy to discover the best boutiques around you. We have a fun and creative way of describing each boutique, so you always know what to expect when you walk in the door. As shoppers, we found it disappointing to go out of our way to stop at a store with “boutique” in the name, taking the time to park and putting money in the meter, only to find out it wasn’t our style; this is why so many people end up at the mall. Now that we have developed an online destination that lists and describes each boutique, it is that much easier to support the local boutique scene. We also provide an up-to-date listing of current boutique events, parties and sales.

What’s been the most rewarding part of the experience so far?

Relationships. We have gotten to meet so many amazing boutique owners who each have unique stories of why they started their businesses. We love it when we get a thank you from an owner because someone came in after finding their store on Boutiquing.com. We love our daily interactions with our faithful following of boutique shoppers who love to hear our opinions (and share theirs) on the Boutiquing.com Facebook and Twitter pages. Our Boutiquing Shopping Events, which bring together 30 boutiques for massive one-day sales, have been a blast! Not only do we get to offer serious deals on boutique merchandise, but we also get to expose shoppers to boutiques they may have never shopped before (and give away a ton of free stuff!).

Boutiquing.com

April Madigan, co-founder

Next shopping event:

10 to 5 p.m. March 13

Park Privé

1570 Scenic Ave.

Costa Mesa