Miles of Styles offers unique finds in a range of sizes

Published 11:15 am Monday, March 21, 2022

What began for Hiedi Martin as a successful online business has blossomed into an amazing women’s boutique here in Milledgeville.

Martin moved to Georgia from Portland, Ore., where she originally started her company as a hobby. She spent years working in law enforcement, with the online business on the side, before health issues forced her to leave her position. After Martin left, she said that her father was the first to suggest that she open a store in Milledgeville.

Martin moved to Georgia to be closer to her father, who lived in Sparta. The name of her business, Miles of Styles Women’s High End Resale Boutique, originally came from Martin’s son, who came up with the name when he was 14 because his mother traveled miles to find styles for her online business. With her father and stepmother’s encouragement, Martin opened her original location on U.S. Highway 441 and remained there for two years. For the past five years, however, the boutique has found a home at 134 S. Wayne St, where customers can find new, gently used and vintage items including name brand and designer clothing, jewelry, shoes and handbags, at reasonable prices.

There’s a certain appeal to vintage clothing from Martin’s point of view. “It has drastically changed in the past 30 years that I’ve been doing this, and it goes through different trends every 20 years, it changes” she states “but the trend for the past 20 years is instead of blending in, people want to stand out and have their own unique style. My motto for the store is that it’s art, and your body is a canvas, and you pretty much get to say what your art is based on your fashion and clothing.”

Miles of Styles is not a consignment store because Martin purchases all of her items and has them shipped in from Oregon. The age of her customer base, according to Martin, ranges from 18 to 70, and the boutique carries sizes from extra small up to 3X. Another plus is that the business has new inventory that Martin puts out weekly, so the odds of finding something are pretty good.

Like many retail outlets, the store went through tough times due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, and Martin said it was saved by her online sales and purchases from customers with whom she’d built relationships.

Martin prides herself on proving great customer service, which she said has become a bit of a lost art.

“I really am very passionate about what I do, and I get very excited about helping people,” she said. “The reason I get excited is because I don’t care what size you are, what background you come from as far as economic status. I truly believe everyone has a right to feel special, beautiful, important, and good about themselves. Clothing can help do that, and I believe in treating people exactly how I want to be treated.”

Even on those days where she might not be feeling up to it, Martin has a reason that she does what she does for a living, which keeps her going.

“Because I hope I can make a difference,” she put it simply. “I saw people at their worst for many years — I was in law enforcement for 14 years — and it is rough. Now, I get to help people be their best.”

When customers leave Miles of Styles Women’s High End Resale Boutique, Martin said she knows what she wants them to say: “That I helped make a difference, even if it’s just for a moment.”