Case Study: Rebranding Bloomingbyrds into Genevieve Boutique

Rebranding a Women’s Clothing Boutique

When Betsy bought Bloomingbyrds in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, two years ago, she saw an opportunity to make it something truly her own. She updated the merchandise, revamped the space, and even added “Byrd’s Nest”, a children’s clothing space in the back.

However, she soon realized she needed more than just in-store updates. While the boutique’s physical transformation brought fresh energy to the space, she faced new challenges and knew it was time do things right - working through a rebrand and extending her reach beyond Lake Geneva. That’s where we came in.

The Challenge

As a seasonal resort town business, Bloomingbyrds has customers that return to the store year after year. After Betsy bought the business, she overheard customers talking. They were expecting the merchandise to be the same as before. They didn’t understand that there was a new owner, that things had changed, because to them the name and the store were the same.

Bloomingbyrds also struggled to maintain steady sales beyond the bustling summer season, as foot traffic slowed significantly during the off months. Without a website to expand their reach, the boutique missed opportunities to connect with out-of-town customers year-round. Many visitors even began asking if an online shop was available, highlighting the growing demand for a digital presence.

Changing the Name

In order to ensure previous customers understood that Bloomingbyrds was essentially a new store, with new merchandise inside, we knew we needed to change the name.

Betsy was never fond of the name or logo for Bloomingbyrds and wanted to make it completely her own. So we dove into brainstorming name ideas under multiple categories, some derived from the original name, her name, coastal options, flower options, etc. Some of our personal favorites being - Meadow, Lakely, and Raye.

After reading through them, Betsy sent over an email saying our ideas inspired her to think deeper about the meaning behind the name and knew instantly that she wanted to honor her grandmother and name the store Genevieve Lake Geneva.

Our Approach to Brand Strategy & Design

We began with an in-depth brand strategy session, uncovering Genevieve’s soul - who they are, what they do, and why they do what they do. The brand is inspired by effortless beauty, human connection, and a sense of lightness. Every design decision was rooted in this ethos, ensuring the rebrand would feel both intentional and deeply personal.

Key Brand Elements

Defining the Brand’s Core - The foundation of Genevieve was built around two pivotal concepts: “beautiful feminine dresses” and “a light, welcoming environment.” These ideas were crucial in shaping the store’s identity and ensuring its message was clear and consistent.
Brand Voice and Personality - We wanted Genevieve’s voice to feel calming, confident, and authentic—the kind of voice that invites connection. It’s about speaking with quiet assurance and treating every customer like a trusted friend. The tone is welcoming and warm, fostering genuine relationships both in-store and online. The tagline, “Effortlessly Beautiful,” captures this essence perfectly, aligning with the brand’s mission to inspire a life of effortless living.
Understanding their Target Audience - We did heavy research in finding and understanding their target audience. Looking into who followed them on social accounts, who interacted with them the most, who was a frequent shopper in person. We broke down the psychology behind why they choose to buy, what their struggling with, and what they deeply desire. This ensures that Genevieve’s messaging and marketing actually resonates and converts to sales.
Visual Direction and Color Palette - Genevieve’s dresses are typically light, flowy, and have a certain French countryside feel to them. We wanted to ensure that we brought that on through to their visual identity by adding light colors, linen textures, and small floral touches. The color palette needed to work for cool winter days as well as warm summer lake moments. This meant using a blend of both green and blue hues, grounded with a dominant textured neutral.
Logo Marks and Visual Identity - Genevieve’s main logo tells a story of charm and sophistication, perfect for that small town feel. Featuring a yellow bike adorned with delicate florals (a bike that Betsy can be seen riding through Lake Geneva on!), it evokes the quaint beauty of the French countryside. Hidden in the illustrated flowers on the bike are an “M” and “E”, a sweet nod to Betsy’s nieces that she wanted to incorporate. Paired with serif and script typography, the logo balances timelessness with modernity. The logo suite, including primary, secondary, and simplified versions, ensures flexibility across all applications, from storefronts to social media.
Marketing Direction - To bring Genevieve’s brand to life online, we started with a visual plan for their Instagram feed. The plan included a mix of lifestyle imagery, product highlights, and shareable quotes, ensuring a consistent, effortless look. In-store, we recommended events and collaborations to kick off each season. One of our favorite ideas included offering coffee in cups with beautiful pressed flowers taped to the side to create a memorable experience and encourage organic social sharing.

Every detail of Genevieve’s rebrand centered on creating a seamless, inspiring journey for customers. From in-store interactions to online shopping, the experience is designed to evoke a feeling of effortless living.

The Photoshoot

The next part of the rebranding process was a brand and product photoshoot. We knew we wanted to set Genevieve apart from other boutiques that simply use the images the brand/company sends over (meaning thousands of boutiques are using the EXACT same photos).

Ideally this photoshoot would have taken place in actual Lake Geneva, but coordinating schedules, budget, and uncertain weather (it would be hard to have models out in summer dresses in the freezing temperatures!) meant this shoot actually took place in Charleston.

We took care of absolutely everything for the shoot - location scouting and booking, model sourcing, prop hunting, steaming, styling, photography, videography, and editing. This makes it so much easier on our clients! They have full confidence that we know their brand inside and out (we just designed it after all!) and they can keep working on the day to day of their business without having extra “homework” on their plate or trying to coordinate everything.

For the shoot, we decided on three locations - a sailboat (commonly seen on Lake Geneva), a grassy area with a bike that looked like her bike in the logo, and the beach.

We had three amazing models on set that day - Alyssa, Laurel, and Caelin, and we shot everything in a four-hour time period! Which is a lot considering three locations and a crazy late night steaming four giant boxes of dresses!

The goal for the shoot was to ensure everything felt on brand. This meant each image should give an “effortless living” feeling and should be composed primarily of the brands core colors (blue, green, and neutral). We also needed to make sure we had images that worked for both web and social (a mix of horizontal and portrait), had several website banner options (pulled back widescreen shots), and took video that could be used for both social and on the site.

The Website

We brought the new Genevieve brand to life on a custom Shopify site that created an online shopping experience as elevated as the in-store experience.

To achieve that we focused on several elements -

Branding

Those beautiful textured backgrounds and delicate line work that can be seen throughout the Genevieve brand guidelines are now seen on their website. This, coupled with their gorgeous brand fonts and colors, instantly brings in the elevated feel so many websites are lacking.

Customizations

We custom designed and coded a pop-out navigation menu that easily glides out from the left on hover. We wanted something that still allowed you to add multiple links like a traditional mega menu, but stood out from what we typically find on standard Shopify sites. We also designed it to include featured images that can be changed out seasonally to highlight certain products or collections. The fluid movement of the menu, the light underline of the title, and the soft hover effects add to the brands sophisticated, yet effortless feel.

We also custom coded a slow image scroll section on the homepage, designing it to look like a film strip. It gives that hint of nostalgia that you get when you think of your summer vacation at Lake Geneva. It automatically scrolls horizontally across the page, adding a beautiful detail of slow movement just under the main banner video. It stops if you hover on it, an important functionality piece especially for those wanting a closer look, and allows you to link the images to products for easy shopping.

On the homepage you’ll also find another fully custom section of floating images that softly float upwards as you scroll. We wanted to add a bit of breathing space after the content above the fold, ensuring that effortless feeling is felt throughout the visitor experience.

Functionality

We always want to ensure our sites not only look and feel beautiful, but are also incredibly easy to navigate and function well. With each site we walk through multiple visitor journeys and design for increased conversions.

Some of the functionality features we added to the Genevieve Shopify site design include the following -

Hover effects on the pop-out menu, reducing any unnecessary clicks, getting people where they want faster
Local pickup information listed on the product page so locals don’t have to pay for shipping. This increases daily orders and reduces frustration, no longer needing to pay for shipping if you’re local
The product description is locked on scroll to easily view product images and read key details at the same time
Collapsible tabs were added to the product description to detail shipping information and returns & exchanges without needing to click to an additional page
The homepage was designed to feature multiple collections throughout, with one dedicated section near the bottom to make it easy to visually see categories versus solely in the navigation
Collection filters can be seen on collections pages so visitors can easily shop by budget or filter to show in-stock only
A shipping countdown bar was added to the cart to alert shoppers when they’re close to hitting the free shipping mark, encouraging larger order totals

The Result

The rebrand from Bloominbyrds to Genevieve Lake Geneva was a beautiful transformation that had Betsy shooting over an email saying “I love it!!!!!!” immediately after seeing everything. By blending thoughtful strategy, elegant design, and intentional marketing, we created a brand that feels deeply personal, effortlessly beautiful, and ready to reach a wider audience.

This case study is just one example of our commitment to crafting cohesive, identifiable brands that not only look beautiful but also drive tangible results. Whether it’s building a brand from the ground up or reimagining an existing one, we take pride in partnering with passionate, driven business owners to create brands that inspire, resonate, and thrive.

If you’re thinking of rebranding or are just starting things up, let’s do this journey together and create something truly magical. Fill out the form to schedule a call so we can chat and see how we can help you bring everything to life!