By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–Blue Tree Boutique in Old Town Helena will soon celebrate their one-year anniversary of being in business in Helena and they have recently expanded their store to accommodate more merchandise.

Becka’s Boutique, which specializes in children’s clothing, recently moved to another location that helped open up the space for Blue Tree to expand.

Jennifer Gafnea, owner of Blue Tree Boutique, said the decision to open the store began as a hobby.

“The reason behind opening the boutique really began as a hobby and an opportunity to spend time with my daughter,” said Gafnea. “The decision was made to first be original and then to offer a fantastic one-stop shop.”

In addition to owning the boutique, Gafnea is a nurse practitioner and she makes sure to recognize customers who work in related fields by providing them with a discount.

“Nurses, teachers, police and firemen continue to be underpaid and are often underappreciated,” said Gafnea. “We give them 10 percent off their purchases all day, every day.”

As far as how the boutique got its name, Gafnea’s 17-year-old daughter came up with the name Blue Tree.

Gafnea’s daughter and son are both involved in the business as Jennifer’s son just finished his freshman year at the University of Alabama and owns his own furniture company. The newly expanded section of the boutique includes some of his handmade custom furniture for customers to browse and purchase.

The clothing and accessory store offers a variety of inventory and some of the other brands Blue Tree carries includes Simply Southern, Feather Blue Jewelry, High Cotton Candles, Corkcicle Tumblers and more.

Blue Tree’s hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Blue Tree is located at 4094 Helena Road and does weekly giveaways on Wednesdays and can be found on Facebook at Facebook.com/BlueTree.ABoutique/ or on Instagram at Shopbluetree.