A New Adventure
The Emerald Isle Boutique opened for business in October 1981. The original owners, sisters Jeanette Smith and Louise Burchell, felt that opening a business together was a dream come true.
Originally opened as a Lingerie Shop, the owner’s didn’t want to pick a “cutesie” name for the Store. Somehow, they had the forethought to imagine that they might evolve into something different. As Jeanette and Louise were driving to Santa Fe, they were determined to pick a name for the store on that trip. Driving on I-25, they noticed the lush green foliage that followed the path of the Rio Grande River and were struck by the beautiful EMERALD color. Then and there, they decided that they wanted to incorporate that word into the name. Emerald is not only a rich and lush color, but the Emerald Gemstone is the rarest gemstone in the world. Finally, they settled on ISLE to complete the name. The EMERALD ISLE signifies that our store is an “oasis of rare gems in the desert.” Not once did the girls think about the Emerald Isle also referring to Ireland! They soon became aware of that because of customers coming in looking for Irish imports or an Irish pub…but everyone remembers the name!
The Emerald Isle Evolution
The Emerald Isle in 1981 was quite different than the store today. The original Emerald Isle sold exquisite Lingerie, lounge-wear for women and men and antiques. As time passed, many of the store’s customers requested that the store offer dresses. After the initial dresses were ordered and subsequently sold, the partners realized that the sales volume of the business could be increased greatly by offering ready-to-wear clothing.
Today, The Emerald Isle is a full service boutique offering a variety of clothing and accessories for stylish women of any age.
Even though Jeanette has retired, another family member is at the helm with Louise. Kelli Burchell, daughter of Louise, has worked in the store since the age of 15. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University and became a partner by investing in the business in 2002. Being a second-generation business is very important to The Emerald Isle. With Kelli’s influence, everything became new again. Our customers are not only assured of having a fresh, young influence in the merchandise, but can look forward to longevity for The Emerald Isle. Beautiful sisters, Louise & Jeanette are pictured here with little Kelli!
As Buyers, Kelli and Louise are constantly looking for the highest quality, most fashionable and wearable items for their customers. The Emerald Isle is poised and ready for a long, fashionable future! The Co-Owners encourage stopping in often as new shipments arrive nearly every single day!
The staff also includes long-time employees and friends, Hetty Smith and Lupe Saiz.
Our Philosophy
The initial goal of the partner’s was to treat every customer as they would want to be treated. Whenever a policy decision had to be made, the owners put themselves into the customer’s shoes. For this reason, The Emerald Isle has been able to maintain an outstanding reputation in the community and many customers are also friends. It’s that special relationship with their customers that keeps The Emerald Isle going.
Keeping the Las Cruces area ladies in style isn’t their only objective; both owners are dedicated to their community and offer their time and services to many causes. The Emerald Isle is happy to donate items to auctions and hosts multiple fashion shows each year on behalf of local charitable organizations.
The Emerald Isle began as a family-owned business and holds “family” in high regard. People ask if we ever get sick of each other…” Kelli muses, “not really. We are constantly laughing and having a good time.”
The Emerald Isle credo is ” We are passionate about what we do and we hope it shows!”