Amber Ratcliffe wanted to own a shop for as long as she can remember. In June, she opened one.
The Gilded Butterfly Boutique, at 118 E. Tarpon Ave., sells custom-blended fragrances, skin care products, handmade jewelry and gifts on the historic downtown strip, away from the tourist bustle of the Sponge Docks. Ratcliffe has lived in the Tarpon Springs area for 16 years, and she designed the shop to feel less like a store and more like a personal retreat.
“My dream was to have a shop my entire life,” Ratcliffe said.
She started young. Her parents ran a luncheonette in the New York City borough of Queens, and by age 2 Ratcliffe was standing behind the counter handing customers their change. In college, her senior thesis was a full business plan for a bath shop she called Under the Moon.
She went on to spend two decades in the beauty industry as a trainer and specialist for brands including Sephora and The Body Shop. That career ended without warning when The Body Shop abruptly closed its U.S. stores and employees were told in the middle of their shifts to pack their belongings and leave.
Ratcliffe took an office job and put her spare energy into a side business. She made jewelry, sold it from tents at weekend markets and placed it in collective shops such as The Maker and Merchant in Countryside and Maddie Lou’s in Safety Harbor.
When the office routine began to wear on her, her husband pushed her to take the leap.
“My husband looked at me and said, ‘Amber, you’re gonna be 52 years old this year. Do it. If it doesn’t work out, you go back to work. Give it a year,’” she said.
The storefront came through a local connection: Her son’s father owns the nearby Replay Museum. Ratcliffe took it as a sign the timing was right.
The shop’s name is a family tribute. “Gilded” honors her late grandmother Gilda, a longtime retail worker who helped shape Ratcliffe’s childhood. “Butterfly” comes from her family’s nickname for her as a girl, “the white butterfly.” Ratcliffe plans to launch a line of fragrances honoring the women of her family, including her mother and grandmothers.
High-end perfume studios often require reservations. The Gilded Butterfly’s fragrance bar welcomes walk-ins and offers nearly 80 scent blends, ranging from versions of designer perfumes to gourmands, fresh florals and beach-inspired scents. Customers can have their picks blended into a rollerball oil, body oil, eau de parfum, botanical oil or Ratcliffe’s aloe-based spray lotion, a lightweight formula made to absorb without feeling sticky in Florida’s humidity.
The shop also hosts small workshops where guests paint and decorate glass bottles and then fill them with their own blends. The bar seats four to six people, and it has become a popular spot for girls’ nights out, birthday celebrations and private parties.
Other do-it-yourself stations include a candle bar, a bath salt bar and a vegan, gluten-free sugar scrub bar where children scoop colorful scrubs as if they were making ice cream sundaes. The “Spa Day Every Day” bundle sells for $50 and includes a custom rollerball, a candle, a scrub or bath salts, and a face mask.
Ratcliffe focuses on clean ingredients, local artistry and affordability. Her handmade jewelry uses freshwater pearls, gold-plated chains and hand-carved shells, and her freshwater pearl earrings sell for $32.
She also avoids mass-produced decor. For fall, she replaced plastic pumpkins with a “Practical Magic” theme. The display features celestial-inspired pieces and horoscopes from Tampa Bay artists, along with her Latitude Collection, a line of gourmand fragrances named for places she has traveled.
“I want somebody to be able to come in here, not have to spend a fortune, and leave with something special that makes them feel good or a gift that’s gonna make someone else feel good,” she said.
Running an independent shop has its ups and downs. Downtown foot traffic rises and falls with the weather and the tourist season, so a quiet, rainy afternoon can follow a day packed with shoppers.
Ratcliffe said the reception has made it worthwhile. Neighboring businesses have embraced the shop, and regular customers come back several times a month for custom lip oils, perfumes and gifts.
“The local love has been really, really special,” she said. “Being welcomed by not only the locals but other business owners like Beach Babes, COhatch, One Amazing Find … everybody’s been so helpful and kind.”
Her message to customers is simple.
“Love yourself, love your body, take care of yourself,” she said. “Have fun, spread a little love and happiness. … There’s something for everyone.”
More than anything, she said, she wants every visitor to leave happy.
The Gilded Butterfly Boutique is at 118 E. Tarpon Ave., Suite 101. Workshop schedules, private event bookings and online shopping are available at thegildedbutterflyboutique.com.