Hey there,
My name is Ruby Gabler and I am the owner/founder of Vibeage Boutique LLC located in Lubbock, Texas. I will start off by telling you a little bit about myself and how the store, and it's name, came to be.
I am a West Texas native and was raised just south of Lubbock in the heart of Patricia, Texas.(You may or may not be able to zoom in that far on your phone to view it.) I am first and foremost a wife and mom to 2 beautiful, but very sassy girls. Kenley is my 8 year old and Madisen is my 3 year old. You will occasionally see them in-store when shopping with us or catch a few 100 pictures on my Instagram. My husband is Lyle Gabler and he is our photographer/videographer and everything in between. I graduated nursing school in 2010 and practiced nursing for 4 years as an LVN. 4 years ago, the idea of having a boutique came to us. I was working and traveling nearly every day and had no time to spend with my family. The idea for The Bluebonnet was born. It was an enclosed car hauler that we transformed into a mobile boutique. We traveled across the state almost every weekend. As you can imagine,this got old very quickly for us and our children. The stress was too much to handle between children and travel. During this time, our home was Greenwood, Texas (a small community East of Midland). We decided that we needed a change of scenery and decided the best decision was to close The Bluebonnet and move our family to Wolfforth, Texas (a small community outside of Lubbock). We moved right after Thanksgiving 2016 and not long after the holidays we started to seriously revisit a retail venture. The concept and name of Vibeage was conceived. After checking out a few locations, we found the perfect fit within a newly constructed shopping center now known as The Shops at Reserve at Ravenwood. This is where the Vibeage story begins.
I hope I haven't bored you to tears yet. You're probably wondering what the heck is Vibeage, and why can't I find this in the Urban Dictionary!? Well, that is because we totally made it up...put it together...whatever you want to call it. The root word, vibe, has seemingly been trending and widely used, though it wasn't a word we could just take for ourselves on its own. We wanted to have something unique, that has an inherent personality to it...something we could definitely make our own and be highly marketable and "brandable", thus Vibeage was born! (FUN FACT: it is now officially registered and trademarked with USPTO so literally, we own it..!) Vibeage.....what does it mean? Well, we've also formally defined it for you, as you would see on one of the interior walls of our retail store.
vibeage | noun | vi-be-age | a collection of tangible representations of one's personality as expressed to and felt by others.
So, there it is, the formal definition. It is totally a play on the definition of vibe, which is a person's emotional state or the atmosphere of a place as communicated to and felt by others. Still, there might be some explaining to do, Lucy! Get ready...our thought process here might seem to be going deep! So, "a collection of tangible representations.." You can't physically feel a person's vibe he or she is throwing off, though there surely are physical, tangible things that can enhance the vibe he or she is giving off, or trying to relay. Items that can be touched, sensed, experienced...and what better to call these items than....you guessed it....VIBEAGE!
Armed with this new vocab, we aimed to bring something different to our area and beyond. We realize in today's world, there is hardly anything anyone can offer up to consumers that they can't already get somewhere else. In this era's retail landscape, it takes more than the product itself to set you apart from the competition, and to attract new and hold on to current customers. It takes an experience, a notable atmosphere along with impeccable customer service, and a huge effort to be relate-able to the public, transparent and marketing. At Vibeage, we strive to always provide the very best customer service and experience each and every time.
Along side these points and with regard to the product itself, we wanted to fill a noticeable gap, at least noticeable to us. This was that gap between the fun hungry college party girl and the pant-suit business woman. The gap between Forever 21 and Nordstrom's...prices and affordability included. To find a perfect balance between prices, quality of materials and products coupled with a high end, "true-boutique" atmosphere and styles that can fit just about anyone who shops with us. We strive to offer styles that are versatile and pieces you will wear time and time again. Shop our full website or in-store to check out our ever changing inventory.
So there you have it, the birth of Vibeage Lubbock. The past few months have been a whirlwind as we welcomed our local shoppers into our store on September 25,2017. We are blessed to part of the community of Lubbock. We look forward to many more years of business and to building friendships with all that shop with us online/in-store. See you soon!
XOXO,
Ruby