Country singer Jessie James Decker’s flagship Kittenish store is now open for business in Music City.
Nashville is currently the “it” girl of the South. Celebrities want to live there, tourists want to go there, bachelorettes want to drink there, and everyone wants to shop there.
Which is why Jessie James Decker’s new store looks so good on Nashville.
You won’t find her Kittenish store in the heart of honky-tonk row. Decker chose instead to hang her hat in Nashville’s Gulch neighborhood about a mile west and a world away from Lower Broadway.
Kittenish nestles across the street from The Station Inn, a tiny-but-legendary bluegrass listening room, next door to the former food-truck-turned-breakfast-hot-spot Biscuit Love, and around the corner from a store full of high-end handmade Lucchese cowboy boots. Inside the contemporary storefront, you’ll find the kind of flirty, flattering styles that define Decker’s own look and brand.
We caught up with the country singer, fashion designer, and retail entrepreneur right after she opened the Kittenish doors, and she gave us all the details about her buzzy brick-and-mortar store.
Cowboys & Indians: Why open an actual store when online shopping is everything right now?
Jessie James Decker: I started this Kittenish brand with only about six pieces four years ago. And then it continued to grow and grow and grow. So I decided it was time to test the waters and take a big chance. I was waiting for some kind of big sign. Then my sister was out walking her baby in the stroller, and she stumbled upon the building and saw the “Available Space” sign. My heart knew immediately.
C&I: Why make Nashville the store’s home?
Decker: Because this is my home, where my husband and I are raising our family, and I’m a very, very hands-on person. I wanted to be able to keep up and make sure everything was right. I didn’t have any intentions of opening another store in another city, but now I have the itch to explore. There’s possibility out there.
C&I: What was the February grand opening like for you, when 1,000 people lined up to get in the door?
Decker: I’ll be honest. I cried. I cried with my mom. Mostly because I had no expectations. I never do. I’m thankful if five people show up, so to see people wrapped around the whole block and into the garage just made me cry. It made me feel so grateful to have that fan base be there for me. I was overwhelmed and grateful.
C&I: How did you originally come up with the name Kittenish?
Decker: When I was 15, a woman in the music industry told me that I was very kittenish and I’ve held on to that forever.
C&I: Is it true you started designing clothes before you were even a teenager?
Decker: My dream was always to be a country singer, to be on stage, to have fans. So I’d envision myself in the pieces I was drawing. It started out as “What would I want to wear when I’m on stage?” And I knew I could design what I wanted for myself. I’m a very creative person.
Find Kittenish at 304 11th Ave. South in Nashville. Catch Decker in concert on her 19-city country-music tour, kicking off April 12 in Denver. For more information, including tour dates and Kittenish fashion, visit jessiejamesdecker.com.
Photography: Nicole Gerulat