When Kelly Blair and Jamie Wenzel opened their new, combined fashion and home design store in the Kalispell Center Mall, the goal was to bring community and women together in confidence.  

Three months after their grand opening, Blair and Wenzel, owners of Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes, look forward to a future of continuing to foster that community. 

“For me, it’s exceeded my expectations,” Blair said. 

The store, which opened on June 1, is a combination of Blair and Wenzel’s independent projects in fashion and home design. The two joined forces this year, realizing that their businesses complimented each other, ultimately leading them to lease a spot in the mall earlier this summer.  

Blair, who owns boutique Elly Jaymes, has been doing retail for nearly 10 years. She has another Elly Jaymes location on Central Avenue in Whitefish, but the store originally started online.  

She also had a storefront in South Kalispell for four years, a warehouse of sorts, which ultimately brought Blair and Wenzel together. Blair reached out to Wenzel, a home stager and design expert, asking her to help make the warehouse more presentable to in-person shoppers.  

“When you walk in, first impressions are everything and I knew Jamie could help me,” Blair said.  

When she began her store in 2016, Blair, a Bigfork native, was living in Oregon and found her niche in the online boutique world, quickly expanding into an in-person business as she came back to Montana. The name Elly James pays homage to the names of her four children and herself.  

Wenzel owns Hydrangea Home, a home decor and home staging business that prioritizes the cultivation of comfortable and beautiful spaces for people to enjoy. She temporarily had a storefront in Bigfork and has been in the business for around four years.  

Hydrangea Home offers consultations, home staging and E-design, as well as an online — and now in-person — furniture and home decor store.  

The choice to join forces with Blair came easy, Wenzel said.  

“A lot of people walk into this store and say ‘Wow, we really needed this,’ it's a unique spot for the area,” she said.  

The new Kalispell storefront has a little bit of everything. From a makeup and beauty bar to rompers and sweaters to real-touch faux hydrangeas, the shop is a great stop for any gift or closet update. Blair and Wenzel travel around themselves to pick different items, so the store only offers products that the two trust and support.  

They travel to bring back the best of what they found, Wenzel said.  

The store is consistently updating their inventory with new things. There is even a group of ladies who come every Friday, Blair said, to see what is new and shop around.  

Outside of retail shopping, the store offers occasional classes, from makeup tutorials to how to style a coffee table. Via a collection of tables in the back of the store, these classes give shoppers a chance to interact with likeminded neighbors and advance the passions or hobbies they have.  

“I think that we both sell our passions, so sharing that with others has been incredible,” Blair said.  

Both Blair and Wenzel look forward to the future of Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes, especially in the new location. 

“We genuinely love interacting and getting to know our customers on a daily basis,” Blair said. “It’s a great sense of community”   

The Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes collaboration in the Kalispell Center Mall is open seven days a week, with the current hours 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.

    Hydrangea Home's "real-touch" hydrangea bar at a new store in the Kalispell Center Mall. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Jamie Wenzel, left, and Kelly Blair, right, are owners of the new collaboration between Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes in the Kalispell Center Mall. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    A sale rack for Elly Jaymes at the new collaboration between Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes in the Kalispell Center Mall. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Jamie Wenzel, left, and Kelly Blair, right, are owners of the new collaboration between Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes in the Kalispell Center Mall. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Patrons shop at the new collaboration between Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes in the Kalispell Center Mall. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Hydrangea Home and Elly Jaymes opened a new collaboration in the Kalispell Center Mall. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)