Boutique 44 Opens On Bond Street In Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD — The town of Bel Air welcomed a new boutique this week to the downtown business community. Boutique 44 held an official ribbon cutting to mark its grand opening.

The owner of the boutique is Harford County native Amanda Gill, who left for a time to study fashion design and merchandising, including trend forecasting and styling in Paris.

Boutique 44 first opened in 2016 in Roland Park, then went online before Gill found the new location closer to home. Boutique 44 is now open on North Bond Street near Newberry Cafe.

"I am thrilled to bring my style to my hometown and community," Gill says of Boutique 44. "Born and raised in Harford County, I shopped the local boutiques like Tiger Lily and The Pink Silhouette with my mom. It is so exciting to watch my town grow and become part of it in the process."

Before starting her own store, Gill worked as a buyer for a menswear company, interned for a design house in Charleston, South Carolina, and launched her own jewelry line. She also reportedly designs handbags.

Gill has previously had a retail presence in Harford County; she started a clothing and decor company called The Brass Giraffe, which appeared at the Vintage Tin Can Tag Sale, a marketplace in Fallston.

When Boutique 44 opened at Wyndhurst Station in Roland Park in 2016, Baltimore magazine asked her to sum up the store in a sentence. Gill described it as "unique finds for women."

Her influences begin locally with her grandfather, whose lucky number 44 inspired the name of her boutique. He, too, was an entrepreneur; he opened the Village Sub Shop in Baltimore in the 1960s, which grew to include more than a dozen locations.

After Boutique 44 was open for a year in Roland Park, the business moved out of the storefront and went online. Gill scouted for a new location and found one close to home.

Boutique 44 officially opened Oct. 13 on Bond Street in Bel Air.

"The world works in mysterious ways and I truly believe you do end up wherever you are meant to be; no matter which rocky road you choose to take you there," Gill posted on the Boutique 44 Facebook page this week.

Both the town of Bel Air and the Harford County Office of Community and Economic Development presented Gill with proclamations at the ribbon cutting on Nov. 7.

"I then cut the ribbon with the largest pair of [Fiskars] scissors that I have ever seen!" Gill said.

Boutique 44 is located at 140A North Bond St., Bel Air.

Follow Boutique 44 on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

Pictured at the ribbon cutting were Bel Air Downtown Alliance Project Coordinator Jenny Falcone, TriSate Realty President Dan Cudone, Boutique 44 owner Amanda Gill with husband Dillon Goddard, Bel Air Mayor Susan Burdette, Bel Air Economic Development Director Trish Heidenreich and Gill's family and friends. Photo courtesy of the town of Bel Air.