Young entrepreneur opens Jo Rose Ann Boutique in downtown Frazee

Taylor Perrine opened Jo Rose Ann Boutique downtown on Lake Street in Frazee with a grand opening on Friday, June 26, and the 18-year-old recent high school graduate quickly found her first week of business moving faster than expected. By the end of that opening stretch, the store’s inventory had already been depleted enough that Perrine had to restock.

That early demand mattered in a town where every new storefront changes the look of main street. Perrine said she wanted a place where people in Frazee could shop for clothing and accessories without leaving town, and she turned that idea into a retail space in the heart of the city’s downtown. For a small community, the opening adds one more reason for residents to stay on Lake Street instead of driving elsewhere for basic apparel and accessory purchases.

Frazee had a population of 1,335 in the 2020 Census, and the city sits right off Highway 10 in the Minnesota lake country. That location gives downtown retail a built-in advantage, since local traffic and pass-through traffic can both matter for a store trying to establish repeat customers. A shop that opens, sells through its first inventory, and needs to reorder right away suggests more than a ceremonial ribbon-cutting; it points to a customer base willing to spend locally when the right business appears.

The opening also fits into a broader small-town economic challenge. Downtown blocks in towns like Frazee depend on steady foot traffic and occupied storefronts to avoid the slow drift toward vacancies that has hit many rural retail districts. A clothing and accessories shop on one of Frazee’s main commercial streets helps keep retail dollars in the community and gives the downtown another active business to draw people in during the summer season.

Frazee’s own history shows how much the town’s identity has long been tied to local reinvestment and continuity. The community was first called Detroit, then Third Crossing, before taking the name Frazee, after Randolph Lafayette Frazee. That history now meets a new generation of ownership in Perrine, whose decision to open close to home adds a current test of whether downtown retail can still grow from local demand.

Otter Tail County says it supports business development through its Community Development Agency and partners including the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center, chambers, cities and other organizations. The county also encourages residents to shop local and support downtown businesses, a message that lines up with the kind of early response Perrine saw at Jo Rose Ann Boutique.