We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Manne White. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Manne below.

Manne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

When my best friend and I decided to open a women’s clothing store 20 years ago, we wanted the name of our store to be unique with creative meaning. When we lived in New York City, my business partner was a print designer for a contemporary clothing brand. She created a print called the Penelope Tree print. She was always drawn to her story. She was a British model from the 60’s with iconic style. We landed on Penelope T with a tree incorporated into our logo, it felt like the perfect fit for our company.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After graduating college I moved to New York City with Nickie, my now business partner. I worked in a multi-line showroom room selling contemporary clothing brands to stores like ours. The experience was invaluable and the biggest stepping stone to opening our own store. Nickie worked in fashion design and we knew combining our backgrounds would make for a great partnership for a women’s retail store. After 5 years we decided to move back to Florida. Tampa was an up and coming city with few small clothing boutiques. In 2005, we opened our first store. Our idea was to always give customers the best shopping experience whether they bought 1 item or 10 items. We wanted our store to feel welcoming and a place women wanted to come hang out, talk about their travels, their life and maybe spoil themselves with a fashionable treat! We became part of the south Tampa community and still have relationships with our very first customers to this day.
My husband’s job moved us to Jacksonville in 2009. After commuting to Tampa for 2 years we decided it was time to open a store here in Jacksonville! We found the perfect location in Jacksonville Beach and have been there since March 2011. We love being a part of the Jacksonville Beach community! We have partnered with so many local businesses in our area and have developed long lasting relationships that we cherish.
Last year, March of 2024 we opened our 3rd location in Ft. Lauderdale. After exploring the southeast, we both had the gut feeling that Ft. Lauderdale was the spot for Penelope T. We just celebrated our 1 year anniversary and were so appreciative for all the sincere, kind feedback we received when we spoke to some of our new customers.
Like all small businesses and life in general, we have gone through many tough times. Through all of it, Nickie and I try our best to stay positive and ambitious. We work with some incredible people who help run our business everyday! We feel grateful and proud of the business we have built and continue to build.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Nickie and I met at FSU our freshmen year. We had several classes together, her major was fashion design and mine was fashion merchandising. We did a summer abroad program together in Paris and London. We planned to move to New York together after we graduated.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I think no matter how big or small the city you live in, word of mouth is always the most effective strategy for growing a business. We want everyone to have a good experience when they walk into Penelope T. Friendly customer service is something we feel very strongly about. We obviously spend a great deal of time on our social media as well but it always starts with someone telling someone else about us and we hope for good reason!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.penelopetboutique.com
• Instagram: @penelopetboutique
• Facebook: penelope t boutique
• Linkedin: Penelope T Boutique

Image Credits

Kelly Morrison for model photo and PT sock photo