Emily Bonvillain, a spring 2006 business graduate, has combined her passion for Phi Mu and the skills she obtained as a marketing student to fulfill her dream of opening a Greek store in Thibodaux. The need for a Greek store in Thibodaux was apparent to Bonvillain as early as her freshman year when she became involved in Phi Mu.
“I would travel all the way to Baton Rouge and Lafayette just to get merchandise,” Bonvillain says. It was back then that I realized the need for a store here.”
Three years later, as a junior in an entrepreneurship class, Bonvillain did her class project on a Greek boutique. She said it was in that class that the dream became a serious idea.
After graduation, Bovillain searched for a job like most graduates.
“I was going to take a job as a sales representative, but every interview had something that just wasn’t right,” Bonvillain says. “With the support of my fianc, I decided not to settle for something I might be happy with.”
Bonvillain explains that her marketing degree was a critical contribution in the process of starting her own business.
“If I wouldn’t have graduated in business marketing, I would have been lost in this whole process,” Bonvillain says. “Every class, from professional selling to marketing strategy has guided,” Bonvillain says.
The lengthiest step in the process of starting her own business was obtaining a commercial loan, Bonvillain says. After this step, she still had to apply for permits, find vendors and find a location.
Bonvillain expresses gratitude for both Myspace.com and Facebook.com. She says these two Web sites are tremendously important marketing tools that have already helped her establish a client base. In fact, she received several messages from students last week who were in need of Greek merchandise for the Homecoming festivities. One Delta Zeta student even “emergency Facebooked” her because the merchandise she had ordered online was on back order.
Bonvillain says her store has everything from Tau Kappa Epsilon key chains to Sigma Sigma Sigma picture frames. However, she reveals her store does not just have Greek merchandise.
“The sign on my door reads ‘Greek Boutique and Something Chic,'” Bonvillain says. “I will also have women’s shoes and accessories too.”
Janne’ Rogers, communicative disorders sophomore from Cut Off and Tri Sigma member, thinks it is a great idea to finally have a Greek store in Thibodaux.
“It will save us time and money,” Rogers says.
Bonvillain says she is very excited about the upcoming opening of her store in mid-October.
“When I was a student at Nicholls, Phi Mu became my hobby and my passion. Now being Greek is my job,” Bonvillain says.
