RIDGEWAY – On Sept. 6, past and future boutique owner Tina Johnson will be back in business – literally.
Johnson is re-opening her popular Over The Top boutique in downtown Ridgeway after closing it five years ago.
“I ran the shop for 14 years, and loved every minute of it,” Johnson said. “And I’m so excited to be opening it again. Everything will be the same. We’ll be carrying the same lines we carried from 2005 until the store closed in 2019 – Renaur, FDJ, Isle, Gretchen Scott, and more.”
Besides ladies dresses, pants, and jackets, the shop will also offer accessories including, jewelry, shoes, scarves, purses, and of course, hats.
“I love hats,” she said, explaining that she initially opened the shop as a hat boutique, thus the name, Over the Top. “The first time I visited Ridgeway, I had lunch in Laura’s Tea Room. Choosing a hat to wear was so much fun.”
During her 30-something year law enforcement career in Forest Acres where she is now Exec. Assistant to the Police Chief, Johnson said she had never really thought of working in retail, much less owning her own shop.
“But when I crossed over that bridge into the Town of Ridgeway, I felt like I belonged there,” she said. “So I started looking for a shop, found one in the middle of downtown, rented it at first, then bought it.”
Today, Johnson and her husband Rick, the town’s mayor, live on the edge of town in a historic two-story home that they operate as a bed and breakfast.
When she closed the shop in 2019, she rented it to Ridgeway native Laverne Glover’s Glover and Glover Interiors LLC, a home design and decor shop. Glover will now operate from a showroom in half the building while Johnson’s boutique will occupy the other half. Johnson said Glover’s shop is a compliment to her own merchandise.
“It’s really working out well,” she said.
Beginning Friday, Sept. 6, Over the Top will be open from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
A ribbon cutting will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 6.
“We’re looking forward to seeing our former customers and new customers as well,” she said. “I can’t wait to do this again.”
