Settled at the edge of Logan’s Broad Street shopping district, Tillman’s Boutique has impeccably dressed the community from head to toe since 1997. Noted for its unique collection of hats, Tillman’s has served as a gem to locals in the neighborhood.
Floid Tillman, a retiree of the Philadelphia Police Department, and his wife Martha, first opened their boutique for churchgoers who wanted custom-made hats and tailoring.
Once business began to pick up the Tillman’s opened a second shop that offered women’s dresses and men’s accessories. Their most recent addition is a thrift shop that offers affordable apparel and accessories for men and women in the community. “You can find blouses and pants for $1 to $2,” said Tillman.
The boutique’s specialty hats are adorned with colorful embellishments, feathers, brooches, sequence and beading. These unique hats have served as the store’s most popular product and are drawing in customers from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware. “The key to any success in business is advertising,” said Floid Tillman, who has advertised the boutique on local radio stations and television networks.
Each hat sold in Tillman’s is made from scratch, structured and hand-stitched by Martha Tillman, who has been immersed in the design and tailoring industry since she was 18 years old.
The hats are custom-made from the frame that supports its structure to the detailed sequences and designs that cover the crown.
“We have the lowest prices for a boutique in the city,” Tillman said. “One reason being because we manufacture our own products.” This factor has allowed the Tillman’s to cut out the middleman and ultimately save their consumers. “A custom-made hat that would normally sell for $400, we sell for $199.”
Tillman’s boutique has served as a treasure to high school students who wanted to achieve a special look for prom, brides who sought to tailor their wedding gowns and churchgoers who looked to find the perfect hat to dress up for their Sunday best.
For the future the Tillman’s hope to expand their business and add a fourth store set to cater exclusively to menswear. “Being a boutique, there is no competition,” Tillman said. “We are one of a kind.”
TO TILLMANS BOUTIQUE, HI I AM TRYING TO FIND A HAT FOR MY FATHER. HE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN STRAWBERRY MANSION. I WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ANY RETRO HATS. THANX STU
loved your playlist
MRS.Tillman:I HAVE BROUGHT. MANY SUITS AND. HATS FROM YOU. I’M LOOKING FOR A. HAT THAT LOOK LIKE THE ONES FROM. THE ROARING 20’S.
I came to this Boutique looking for the perfect outfit to dress my mother in for her homegoing service. My mother was a former pastor’s wife-“First Lady” so how she looked was very important to us. Within 20 minutes, two lovely ladies helped me snd my sister find the perfect white outfit with a matching hat which was stunning and was the perfect look for our mother. Not only were the clothes and hats exceptional, but the service we received was excellent, tender and very professional. They both knew exactly what we were looking for and supported our need for our mother’s final dressing. God bless you and Tillman’s Boutique!!
I will not recommended this place ever to anyone! I went there to get a fascinator but instead my son and I was verbally and physically abused at this so called “Christian Establishment”. The owner of the shop who is a black elder women who calls herself a “Christian”. Tells a 4 yr old he needs to go home and take his medication? Granted my son does not have a disability but if he did what is that to say to child? I found her remarks to be rude, disrespectful and degrading. In addition she tried to charge me a $5.00 fee for using my credit card for a $10 purchase without my knowledge. We as African Americans need to do better in how we treat our own people in our community. As a elderly person in society whom children should look up to and respect would treat her own kind in this manner, how would you expect strangers to treat us! Shame on you! You are not an example of how a Christian or non-Christian behave! I give this place zero stars!