Finicky: Tangible Sentiments with Elegance

Photos by John Burns

Walk into FINICKY at 5618 SW 29th St. and the first thing that catches your eye is the sparkling chandelier. From there, your eyes are immediately drawn to an elegant gold wall where custom-designed cards, complete with jewels and ribbons, are displayed like pieces in an art gallery. Once you have taken a
moment to appreciate the artistry on display, the rest of the boutique comes into focus, revealing custom pillows, coasters, gift bags, boxes, T-shirts and more.

Everything in the boutique lives up to its name—FINICKY. Owner Janeen Bailey meticulously hand designs every item in the store, making sure every detail is just right. This need for perfection, according to her husband, Greg, permeates everything Janeen does.

“I nicknamed her “Finicky” when we got married 28 years ago because she is picky about how she wants things done,” Greg said. “She likes things neat, precise and, honestly, perfect.”

When the couple decided to open a boutique in 2017, the name seemed appropriate.

Janeen always loved photography and started taking pictures of her sons playing sports. She turned those pictures into sports cards and soon had other parents asking her to do the same for their } children. That evolved into taking senior pictures and family pictures and also turning those into custom cards. The card business boomed. Word of Janeen’s hand-crafted, custom-designed cards and invitations started to spread. Then came the pillows and engraved coasters. Pretty soon, the Bailey’s house was overflowing with inventory— something that drove a finicky person crazy.

“We had so many things in our house that we were leaning over,” Greg said with a laugh. “We knew we had to do something; we just weren’t sure what that was.”

They looked for storage options, but nothing they found really worked for convenience or price. They happened to drive by Barrington Village and saw a space for lease, and after negotiating a fair contract, all of a sudden Janeen was in business.

The Bailey’s decided to open the store as a boutique rather than a retail shop so that Janeen would have the flexibility to manage their 16-year-old daughter Nija’s extra-curricular activities.

“With Nija on the Topeka West dance team, in the band and teaching dance classes, we didn’t want to limit our ability to be part of her activities,” Greg said.

FINICKY has seen steady growth since opening its doors three years ago. Customers can schedule appointments at www.finickyboutique.com or find them on Instagram @finickyboutique. While the cards and stationery still drive the largest portion of the business, the custom pillows and T-shirts have risen in popularity.

One of Janeen’s newest products is a memorial keepsake pillow. The idea actually came from the loss of family friend, former Fire Chief Joe Douglas. They wanted to do something special for Joe’s widow, so Janeen created a pillow with Joe’s image and a button that also played a recording of Joe singing his favorite song, “It Is Well with My Soul.”

“She loved the image on the pillow,” Greg said. “But when she pushed the button and heard Joe’s voice singing, it brought her to tears.”

Janeen is the first to admit that FINICKY isn’t for everyone. A custom-made card has a higher price point than one you could buy in the card aisle at the store. It also takes longer to produce because each one is hand made. But the end result is breathtaking.

“Janeen loves to create. Her favorite thing is to take a customer’s vision and create something even better than a customer imagines,” Greg said.

The one-on-one attention, making sure every little detail is done right, results in customers who sing Janeen’s praises, spread the word and keep coming back for more.

“We didn’t anticipate the business growing so fast,” Greg said. “We are blessed, but we have to remember that everything can’t happen immediately. We want to make smart decisions and not get in over our head with debt. Purchases have to happen when the money is there.”

FINICKY products are now sold all over the country through online orders. In fact, business has grown to the point where Janeen is on the brink of needing to hire someone, but that would mean trusting someone else to be as meticulous as she is. Instead of sole product creator, she would have to become quality control inspector.

“People forget that she is doing everything by hand,” Greg said. “Sometimes that means if she has a big order, we all haveto chip in. I can’t create the cards, but I can sweep the floor and keep the boutique clean.”

The Bailey’s hope that Nija will want to take over the business one day. She is technically already a co-owner and helps as much as she can in the store. She also contributes design ideas, especially things targeted to a younger demographic, like shirts for the dance team.

“We would like to see Nija create her own product line at the boutique,” Greg said. “She has great ideas for people her age.”

Mostly, they just want Nija to see that it is possible to be successful working for yourself and enjoy what you do. They also want to share the value of hard work and the importance of giving back to others.

“We’ve been extremely fortunate,” Greg said. “Our Topeka community is so supportive of us, and we do what we can to be supportive back by donating items to nonprofits and helping with fundraisers. We all need to take care of each other.”