Photo by Sam Chandler.
Prudence Kauffman opened Dear Prudence, a ladies boutique, in February at 929 Oxmoor Road in Edgewood. The shop sells clothing, jewelry and gifts.
Prudence Kauffman began working in fourth grade at the ladies clothing store that her mother managed in Pennsylvania.
Someday, a young Kauffman thought to herself, she would have a shop of her own. That day has come — again and again and again.
Kauffman is the owner of Dear Prudence, a ladies boutique that opened its fourth location in February at 929 Oxmoor Road in Edgewood. It is positioned next to Big Spoon Creamery, which opened around the same time.
“Really, we just want to be a community resource,” Kauffman said. “We want people to get to know us and pop in for an outfit for themselves, a teacher gift, something for their daughter. We try to have something for everyone.”
Dear Prudence sells women’s clothing, jewelry and gifts that are produced primarily by small vendors. Kauffman said most of her jewelry is artisanal, so it’s appealing yet affordable.
Her gift selection includes Scout bags, which are known for their durability, Swig insulated drink containers and optical quality computer glasses. She also carries beauty products and other assorted items that change by the week.
“There’s always something new coming in, which we love,” Kauffman said.
That Kauffman now owns four stores is nothing short of providential. Eight years ago, she was designing lighting systems for entertainment venues and had no immediate plans to make her lifelong dream a reality.
An unexpected uterine cancer diagnosis prompted her and her spouse, Brad, to re-evaluate.
“My husband said, ‘As soon as you get better, we’re going to do all the things we always said we were going to do, but never got around to,’” Prudence Kauffman recalled.
Opening her own shop topped the list.
Kauffman underwent surgery to treat her cancer and spent the next five to six months recovering. Then, she got to work.
Kauffman, who is now cancer-free, opened her first Dear Prudence location in 2012 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was living at the time. Another shop in Northville, a suburb of Detroit, followed.
“That’s where we felt safest starting out, because we didn’t really know what we were doing at the time,” Kauffman said of the Grand Rapids store. “I mean, it was totally new to us.”
The Kauffmans moved to Birmingham for Brad’s full-time job in early 2018. Instead of stepping away from their businesses in Michigan, they chose to expand.
Dear Prudence opened its first Alabama store just over a year ago at the Patton Creek Shopping Center in Hoover. The location has done so well that it already has transferred to a larger space within the center.
That move coincided with the opening of Dear Prudence’s new Homewood store. Prudence Kauffman said she had been eyeing Edgewood for a while.
“We had actually looked in this area first because we just love the walkability of it,” she said. “Everybody’s so friendly. People are walking their dogs. Kids are riding bikes, like it’s just got a really good vibe. There was just no space available here when we first initially looked.”
Dear Prudence — a title chosen in acknowledgment of the eponymous Beatles song after which Kauffman was named — is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday. For more information, call 538-7385 or search @dearprushops on Facebook and Instagram.
“We’re very open and easy,” Kauffman said. “If it looks good, we’ll tell you. If it looks bad, we will also tell you, because we want everybody to feel comfortable in their own skin.”
