By JULIE MILLER

Staff Writer

Inside Briley & Co., a boutique located at 106 N. Monroe, customers are bustling through designer brands, exotic jewelry and trendy room trinkets.

"Do you have this in black?" asks one college student, pointing out a pair of shoes by Anne Michelle.

Casey Murphy, an employee with the boutique since it first opened in August and a freshman pre-business major, eagerly helps the customer.

"I love helping people find outfits that make them feel good about themselves," Murphy said. "Most of the customers are college students."

Kim Brasher, owner of Briley & Co., wanted it to be that way.

"My daughter Briley and I went to Dallas boutiques and thought Ruston needed a place like that to shop," Brasher said. "Other [local] shops didn't have a huge offering, so this was something we saw as a need, something we could do together."

Brasher said the purpose of the shop is to get local residents ahead of the times.

"The brands we carry are more well-known in larger cities," she said. "We're trying to introduce what's popular.

"It's constantly changing," Brasher said. "One thing that sets us apart from other shops is that we have so much inventory. We receive shipments daily."

Layla Jimerson and her friend Victoria Allen, both juniors at Grambling State University, said they make their way to Ruston at least once every two weeks to shop at this boutique.

"I love it," Jimerson said. "It's a nice little store, and it's better than shopping all the way in Monroe."

Allen agrees with Jimerson but says she is having way too much fun searching through the rack of initial tees to stop for an interview.

Among the celebrity-filled picture frames, sneaker-filled lockers and Christian-themed wall decorations, sorority items also abound. Picture frames splashed with the Greek letters and colors of the different sororities hang around the shop.

"Beginning next week, we'll have a full-time painter who will personalize anything," Brasher said.

About 300 to 400 people stop in to shop during any given week, Brasher said. As each one leaves, they are left with the words "May you always have an angel by your side," written on the exit door.

Perhaps the word "angel" should be replaced with "credit card" --especially for trendy college students.