The Nine Oh Six And Hello Grace: Businesses Joining Hands

Written and Photographed By Olivia Bell

“I think one day I just went into the Nine Oh Six out of sheer curiosity because I didn’t know what it was. Then Lakyn and I ended up talking and, come to find out, my childhood best friend worked with her at Chick-fil-A. So I would go in there a couple of times every couple of weeks just to hang out and talk. I got to know her pretty well just by going in her store.”

Annika Krebs, owner of Hello Grace Boutique, wanted to own a business for as long as she could remember. For a while, it was makeup. But after a strong dislike for makeup began to form and a growing desire to learn more about owning a boutique developed because of a favorite YouTuber, she decided that owning a clothing boutique was her dream. From this dream and working three jobs during college to support herself and her business, Hello Grace was born. 

Lakyn Bowman, owner of The Nine Oh Six, on the other hand, started her thrifting and antique business during the pandemic as a creative outlet. After a few of her TikToks went viral, she gained a following on her Facebook group and eventually moved from two antique mall booths to theLOCAL, and now to her own storefront on Main Street.

“Applications for theLOCAL opened and I applied and got in. That was a wonderful year of growth and learning. It was a great opportunity for small businesses wanting to get started. I moved from theLOCAL and grew into 212 E Main just after a year,” Lakyn said. “It was really quick but the community really showed up and supported me to the point where I could grow.”

Because of being a tenant at theLOCAL, Lakyn did theCO’s CO.STARTERS program in 2023 and Annika also participated this past year. CO.STARTERS is a nine-week class designed to equip entrepreneurs with tools and insights to help their businesses grow. While doing that, it also helps small businesses make connections and get involved with other businesses and the community.

“It gave me a good perspective of what other businesses are up to and coming along with myself and how we can collaborate,” Lakyn said. “There’s been a few collabs that I’ve done with people that I’ve met at CO.STARTERS, like Clarity Skin Studio, she came and did a Valentine's Day pop-up, and then Britta’s Boards has come several times to pop-up here. Those collaborations have been great for all of us.”

For Annika, it was vital to have a community with people like Lakyn as she started her boutique. Experiencing CO.STARTERS and meeting people and businesses that she could learn from is a huge reason why she feels that things have gone so smoothly as she has traversed the great ups and downs of being a small business owner.

“I feel like she has been a mentor to me, definitely with the stuff that’s not super fun, like finances and taxes. She helped me a lot during tax season and was able to ease my mind a little bit with that. And not even tax season, but just in general, I feel like having a community is really helpful. I had some people before CO:STARTERS and Lakyn, but not the amount of community that I have now,” Annika said.

Now, because of her community, Annika has moved from having an online boutique to a physical location within The Nine Oh Six. Since Annika became a tenant of The Nine Oh Six, five other small businesses have followed suit and rented spaces as well. 

“When I was over at theLOCAL Annika would come in and hang out and I was kind of like a mentor to her,” Lakyn said. “She would ask me questions and I would help her out however I could. As I was moving in here, I knew that I had so much space and I 100 percent could fill it with my own stuff. But I think there’s an opportunity here to help some other businesses that are up and coming. So I reached out to Annika with the idea, she loved it, and she became my first tenant.”

Although Lakyn and Annika work in the same building, the relationship they have is quite different from your typical co-worker relationship. Their two businesses operate side by side, all while having completely different structures. Hello Grace sources her items from wholesale, while The Nine Oh Six is supplied primarily from estate sales, thrifting, and other second-hand sources.

“I feel like seeing the differences between the two stores and being able to come together and have common ground in owning a business is really cool,” Annika said. “I feel like her business is the complete opposite side of what mine is. It’s really neat to hear business things from her perspective.”

However different the shops might be, the two women have found a way to incorporate both of their business experiences and create a shared vision for their space.

“We plan a lot of parties together. We just want people to come in and see our space and we want to collaborate however we can with other small businesses. I don’t think any of us would really be standing without each other,” Lakyn said. “Financially it’s helpful for all of us. The overlapping of customers helps all of us because their people come and see my stuff and my people come and see their stuff. So we all make sales and we all win.”

Having a structure where businesses truly can help other businesses just by working together is what Lakyn seeks to accomplish with renting out the rooms in her storefront. She aspires for her shop to be a stepping stone for small businesses to do bigger and better things.

“I want them to feel comfortable with what they are learning here when they are safe under this umbrella. Then they can move on to theLOCAL and go and do what I did. And from there I want them to grow. It’s a domino effect of possibilities and collaboration,” Lakyn said.