Bunkhouse Divas holds ribbon cutting for new location
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
There was a festive mood in the air Friday afternoon, June 12, as the Bunkhouse Divas Boutique & Co. staff celebrated the shop’s new location. With 1950s music playing in the background, Leesa Halbert cut the ribbon, officially opening the new store at 3732 W. Walker St., suite 400.
The boutique moved less than a quarter of a mile to the west, from its former location (the turquoise building just west of Su Casa) to the Breckenridge Marketplace shopping center, home to Tractor Supply, Dollar Tree and the also-recently-relocated Vintage Butterfly.
Leesa Halbert credits Phillip, her husband — and high school sweetheart, with much of her success, saying that she couldn’t have built the business without the help of him, their children and grandchildren. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Owner Leesa Halbert, along with her husband, Phillip, and other friends and family, were joined by Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce members for the ribbon cutting ceremony.
The shop sells a variety of items, including women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, jewelry, etc., as well as home décor, fragrances, journals, candles, metal signs and metal yard art.
One change from the previous location is that Bunkhouse Divas now includes booths/tables featuring the wares of various local vendors. For example, Jamie McMeans sells journals, devotionals and journal kits in her booth, The Bookish Nook. In the “This Ain’t Your Mama’s First Rodeo” booth, Paula Grissom and Jeannine Herrington are selling the clothing and other items they’ve designed and created with a “punchy western” theme. Several of the booths are still being set up, and Halbert said she has space for more vendors.
Halbert opened her first Bunkhouse Divas shop in the 1800 block of West Walker Street and was there for a couple of years before moving to the turquoise building in 2018. Before that, she sold her carefully curated items from the back of her car and then from a trailer she bought.
She said when she and her husband – her high school sweetheart – were 23 years old, they were talking about their dreams for the future. “I told him, ‘My dream is to be a boutique owner,’” she said. “I never dreamed it would happen, and here I am, nearly 70 years old, and I’ve been doing this for 15 years. It has happened, and I just encourage everybody, if you have a dream, go for it.”
Halbert said her friend Julie Cox, who owns Pamper Me Boutique in Sulphur, Oklahoma, helped her install a barcode system for the shop to help keep track of inventory.
“So, she has been very beneficial to helping me get everything changed over to a barcode system and get this store looking as cute as what it is. So my gratitude to her, she is like a sister to me,” Halbert said, also giving credit to her family for their help with the store. “Without my husband and my kids, and of course, all of our customers, this would not be possible.”
Bunkhouse Divas Boutique is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Halbert said she still offers a layaway service for her customers.
Jeannine Herrington, left, own the “This Ain’t Your Mama’s First Rodeo” booth with Paula Grissom, and Jamie McMeans, right, has The Bookish Nook, in the Bunkhouse Divas Boutique. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce President Ken Taylor presents Leesa Halbert with her Chamber membership plaque and the ribbon from the grand opening ceremony at Bunkhouse Divas Boutique. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Cutline, top photo: Leesa Halbert, center, cuts the ribbon, officially opening the new location of Bunkhouse Divas Boutique. The shop moved about a quarter of a mile west of its previous location to the Breckenridge Marketplace shopping center. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
