WOODSFIELD — A new boutique in Woodsfield plans to provide residents a clothing option without having to drive an hour to retail chain stores.

Kemp’s Leather and Western Wear is a clothing boutique that offers boots, cowboy hats, regular baseball caps, men’s, women’s, children’s jeans, T-shirts, leather wallets, belts, belt buckles, and various accessories.

Owner/operators John Kemp and Casey Kemp said they both saw the need for a clothing store in the village.

“Woodsfield and not really even Monroe County doesn’t have a lot of clothing options here. So we thought that’d be a good route to go. And then we went with the Western wear and clothing and boots,” John Kemp said.

He added that the store has only been open since Monday and that he believes the public reception has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We had our grand opening Monday, and it’s been good,” he said. “There was a great turnout for the grand opening and Tuesday, and we have had steady customers throughout the day on Wednesday.”

The boutique is located at 122 S. Main St. at the former ACE Hardware location.

Kemp said his family previously owned the True Value Hardware in the village. He added that his family later purchased the ACE Hardware from the franchise. The building was eventually turned into two separate storefronts. The storefront that Kemp’s Leather and Western Wear is in was previously ACE Hardware’s paint section that sold paint and paint supplies.

Casey Kemp said the couple first got the idea for the store in March.

Her brother Cody Harriman was able to help renovate the building to get it to be what the Kemps envisioned.

Two unique ideas the Kemps added to their store include a cowboy hat bar and the opportunity to brand a hat once purchased.

“If you buy a cowboy hat, you can decorate it yourself at the cowboy hat bar,” Casey Kemp said.

John Kemp added that after customers purchase a cowboy hat, they can brand their own hat in the store. He said that the store has multiple branding irons that he will heat with a small blow torch and then the customers can brand their hat free of charge.

Kemp added that if someone was interested in bringing their own hat to the store to brand it, he isn’t opposed to it and would charge $2 for the service.

Both Kemps agree that providing customers with customized hats will add an extra amount of curiosity that will attract residents to stop into their store.

Casey Kemp said that she’s most excited to be able to provide residents the opportunity to shop for clothing without having to drive an hour away to St. Clairsville.

“Everyone’s been so excited about it. I love how excited everyone is. Even if they don’t buy anything, they come in and talk to us or give us suggestions,” Casey Kemp said. “Everybody’s had really good things to say.”

Kemp’s Leather and Western Wear is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday.