We’re always excited to highlight the beautiful retailers we partner with that help make The Rylee + Cru Collective what it is today. Each one all over the world has its own look, feel, and story, so this is where we get to share that local feeling with all of you and the inspiration behind each store.
For our next feature we are excited to introduce you to Collins + Conley!
Q&A
Q. Tell us about your store! What made you decide to open up your own retail space?
A. We originally opened online-only in 2019 after the birth of our first daughters Collins and Conley. We have always been entrepreneurial and wanted to start something that we could do while working from home and raising our families. Our passion was, and still is, to curate a collection of quality baby and children’s clothing and accessories for both the everyday and special occasions. After a long and weird 2020, we had the incredible opportunity to do a short term pop-up at The Shops at Clearfork in Fort Worth Texas. We were overwhelmed with the response that we received and we realized in our hearts that having a retail space was the missing piece of our business. We absolutely loved getting to meet and get to know our customers face-to-face and host events to cultivate community after the pandemic. We are so grateful for our own storefront and still pinch ourselves every time we walk through the door!
Q. What is your favorite thing about running your store?
A. There really is so much to love about running a business alongside your family and best friend! For us, our most favorite part has been the community. We love that moms can come as they are, even if that means bringing along a few little ones in tow. We have a toy table and a nursing area because we truly want moms to feel welcome and at home in our store. We also love to host events that connect moms and foster a sense of community. We truly have the best customers in the world so it is so easy to build relationships with them, and we love getting to watch all of our tiny customers grow in their C+C outfits!
Q. What does a typical day look like for you?
A. One thing that you should know is that we live right next door to each other. We are sister-in-laws (but were best friends first - we know, dream life!), and are very fortunate to not only do life together but also business together. We are very busy mamas with 6 kids between us, so when our feet touch the ground in the morning, we immediately have to be up and running - usually chasing around one of our kids! Once we get the kids off to preschool, we will either work at home or at the store, depending on the day! In an ideal world we’d love to be at the store every day, but with newborns it’s just harder in this season. But regardless of where we are working, we spend our days planning collection launches, working on email and text marketing, planning social media, planning in-store events for our customers, ordering inventory… the list could go on forever! Of course the 5 hours while kids are in school feels like literally 5 minutes so after pickup we love to let the kids run around and play together in one of our backyards while we keep working until dinner time.
Q. How do you select the brands you carry?
A. We have always selected brands that we personally love and want to be all in one place for our mamas to be able to shop - basically, it’s all the things we want for our own littles! As a women-owned business we love finding and supporting other women-owned and operated brands.
Q. If we had one day in your hometown, where should we visit?
A. Our store is located in Fort Worth, Texas and we like to say that Fort Worth is the biggest small town! We love that it has everything a big city offers with a hometown feel. Fort Worth has so much to offer for travelers, even those with children, and we love playing tourist in our hometown! To start your day, we recommend grabbing some breakfast off of the Trinity Trail at Press Cafe and walking along the Trinity River. Next stop would be the Fort Worth Stockyards where there are daily longhorn cattle drives at 11:30am and 4:00pm. While you’re in the Stockyards, take a walk down Mule Alley and check out all of the unique small shops and restaurants - and then for lunch, you must stop by Joe T Garcia’s. There is not a more Fort Worth restaurant than Joe T’s! If you have kids with you, we have one of the top rated zoos in the country, so don’t miss the Fort Worth Zoo! Another must is stopping by The Shops at Clearfork for some of the best shopping and dining in Fort Worth (it also just so happens to be where we’re located)! There are so many great dinner options and our personal favorites are Rise No 3 or Mesero, but you really can’t go wrong at any of the restaurants in Clearfork! If you need a place to stay, book a room at the Hotel Drover (it is absolutely incredible!) but whether you can stay or not, make sure to grab a margarita from the hotel bar!
Connect with Collins + Conley
Location: 5254 Monahans Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76109
Website: collinsandconley.com
Instagram: @collinsandconley
