Fashionable locale

Boutique owner rooted in community, family and style

Even at a young age, Emma Killingsworth loved fashion, enamored with accessories and clothing that allowed her to express her own sense of style.

At 21, Killingsworth still believes fashion should be fun and make people happy. After graduating from Enterprise State Community College in 2025, she decided to create a retail space where people could find fun fashions in a place where they could be comfortable while shopping.

She opened her boutique, called Emma Jean Riley’s, in March.

Local support

This time of year, there’s a lot of emphasis on shopping local when making holiday gift purchases and supporting locally owned small businesses. For the unincorporated Jack community, it doesn’t get more local than a clothing and gift boutique opened by a native of the rural area.

Killingsworth says she feels blessed to be able to run a business in the community she calls home.

“All of the locals, they support me a lot,” Killingsworth says. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me that since I am out here in the middle of nowhere if you forget a birthday gift or any kind of gift, you can come run up here at the last minute and not have to run all the way into town to Enterprise or Troy to get something.”

Located near the intersection of Highways 167 and 125 in Coffee County, the boutique sits at the back edge of the parking lot behind Kountry Korner, the convenience store operated by Killingsworth’s father and uncle. The boutique had a robust summer, thanks to the heavy traffic on Highway 167, including people heading down to Florida beaches.

There were plenty of people who questioned the young entrepreneur’s decision to open a boutique in such a rural area, but for Killingsworth the decision was easy and a bit sentimental. It’s home. It’s family land. She grew up in nearby New Hope. Her grandparents’ home is next door to the boutique. Her grandfather ran a business in the same location her father and uncle do now. Plus, she wanted to make a go of the business in her own community.

“This is Highway 167 and 125, they stay busy all the time,” Killingsworth says. “So, I never really had a problem with the location.”

Honoring family history

Even the name of the boutique is rooted in the owner’s family history. Emma Jean Riley is not Killingsworth’s full name, but rather a nickname her mother used whenever she got into mischief as a child. It’s a mix of different grandparents’ names.

Along with women’s and men’s clothing, jewelry, bags, lotions and other accessories, Emma Jean Riley’s carries items from local vendors — handsewn and embroidered items by Erica Hussey Dyal and hand-painted lettering and designs by Millie McCollough. There is also a collection of wooden charcuterie boards by Conecuh River Customs.

Family members pitched in to help both in the boutique and with getting the building ready for opening.

For the boutique building, a concrete pad and steel beams were installed, but the building was completed with salvaged and repurposed materials from other homesteads and barns in Coffee County. For the last 15 years, her father, Kevin Killingsworth, has salvaged old lumber and materials as local families chose to clear properties. The interior walls of Emma Jean Riley’s feature wood slats salvaged from an old homestead, giving the retail business a rustic backdrop for its merchandise.

Before the boutique’s outdoor sign went up, there was some confusion over what the building actually was. Some travelers thought it was a restaurant, and with the windows painted for Independence Day back in July, many mistook it for a fireworks stand.

Kevin Killingsworth says he’s happy to see his daughter carry on the family tradition of running a small business. She works at the Kountry Korner store for about 25 hours a week and operates Emma Jean Riley’s boutique another 30 hours on top of that.

“That’s just the way life is. You’ve got to work to make it in life,” he says. “She’s still learning.”