Rosalind Thomas thinks most people should be able to find their style at her clothing store, Roxxanne's. With attire for all occasions, Roxxanne's can satisfy the need for something skimpy and sexy; no-nonsense business attire; elegant formalwear; or that fashion staple, blue jeans.  At the moment current brand name clothing dominates, but Thomas wants to acquire more of the retro and vintage items (often with original store tags on them.) Her vision is for the shop to be half modern fashion, half vintage. Though she caters mostly to women, Roxxanne's does have some men's fashion.

Thomas has been in the clothing business off and on for over 30 years. Her first foray into small business ownership was a booth called Rags to Riches in the flea market on Florida Boulevard.  Then she opened a store named The Real Roxxanne, which lasted about eight years and grew to two locations--downtown as well as on Highland Road near the LSU campus.   People continue to call her Roxxanne (often prefaced by the words "the real") so she stuck with that name for her newest business.

Thomas has found the Baton Rouge community supportive of small businesses.  She has never taken any business courses, but says she learned a lot from people she met in her life.  "I listen to people. I guess you could say I got my higher education in the school of real life."  When asked what advice she would give someone wanting to start a business, Thomas offers her motto:  "Everything's not for everybody, but you better make sure it's for you. You've got to choose something you enjoy because owning a business is not like a 9-5 job. It will take up most of your spare time."  

Thomas credits her fashion sense to a mother who was often ahead of the times.  Sometimes she took some teasing about her outfits, but many kids wanted to know where to find the styles she wore. "Yeah, some of them couldn't wait to see what I was wearin' when I got off the bus each day," Thomas says with a grin.  With her outgoing personality (honed as a club DJ and as a member of the locking dance troupe, the Soul Patrol), customers tend to remember her. Many return time and again to her shop, often becoming friends rather than just customers.  Thomas says what she likes best about her business is "the smiles on people's faces when you find them the perfect thing."

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