photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Bling Glamour in downtown Lawrence features a variety of women's clothing and accessories, including the Kendra Scott jewelry line.

It was about 14 years ago that Nicole Campos took a $500 investment and started selling unique clothes to the approximately 4,000 residents of the rural community of Scott City in western Kansas.

Fast forward to this weekend, and there’s a good chance that her Lawrence store — her 20th store — will have more than 10 times Scott City’s entire population standing outside its doors.

Granted, Campos’ new Lawrence store, Bling Glamour by Nicole, is near Eighth and Massachusetts streets, which happens to be the approximate epicenter of the downtown Lawrence celebrations surrounding the KU men’s basketball team’s participation in the Final Four.

Bling had several thousand people in front of it last weekend as crowds descended upon downtown following KU’s Elite Eight victory to punch its ticket to the Final Four.

“I have been loving seeing all those photos of people coming to downtown Lawrence and seeing our store in the background,” said Sammy McBride, director of operations for Bling. “We love the energy in Lawrence. That’s one of the reasons we wanted a store here.”

Just imagine how many people might be outside the store if it sold Final Four shirts. It doesn’t.

Bling focuses on women’s clothing, jewelry and other accessories. But Campos said the products really were more of a means to an end.

“What we really want is for women to feel better when they leave the store than from when they entered it,” Campos said.

Having an inventory that is broad enough to appeal to multiple generations is an important part of that formula, Campos said. 


“We have a lot of grandmothers who shop with their granddaughters, and we want both of them to be able to find something,” Campos said.

Having an inventory that varies from store to store is also part of Bling’s strategy. McBride said managers at each store make a point to understand specific fashion trends in their market.

“We will have pieces that are trendier for our gals looking for those on-trend pieces, but we also have classic items as well,” Campos said.

The Lawrence store opened earlier this month, after Bling’s stores in Manhattan and Emporia attracted a fair number of Lawrence shoppers, Campos said. She said she had long wanted a location in Lawrence, but the company was insistent that it be in downtown Lawrence in a high-visibility location. Bling’s spot at 742 Massachusetts St. — which used to house Francesca’s — fits the bill, said McBride, who grew up in Topeka and spent a lot of time shopping in downtown.

While the Lawrence store is one of Bling’s newest, it is far from its last. The company already has leases signed to open four new stores, including its first location in Missouri. When that store opens in St. Joseph, Bling will have locations in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri.

“We grew pretty slowly the first 10 years as we really learned our customer,” Campos said. “But now we have the infrastructure in place, and we are growing rapidly.”

The company now considers itself based in Wichita, where it operates a store and a distribution center. But the rural community of Scott City — and then Garden City, where Campos opened her second store — still hold special places within the company. Not only are both stores still open, but they also are highlighted as examples of how a good idea, even in the world of fashion, doesn’t have to come from a big city.

“We never forget that those western Kansas customers made us who we are,” Campos said. “And they still support us today.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

Bling Glamour by Nicole has opened at 742 Massachusetts St. in downtown Lawrence.