On Oct. 7, 2010 Amber Sears posted the following message on her downtown Brighton boutique’s Facebook page:

“Due to a problem with the construction next door at the neighboring business, we are going to have to be closed for an undetermined amount of time. We are extremely upset and saddened. Please watch this page for updates. We appreciate your support and promise to be back as soon as it is possible for us to reopen.”

While Sears just celebrated a store opening on March 4, there's a twist to the story: It's her second Modern Vintage store, located in the village of Dexter.

It's not what Sears expected last fall, when the fire burned only 3 weeks after she'd opened.

Sears, born and raised in Dexter, called her shop the love child of beautiful and functional, specializing in handbags, jewelry, and accessories. She felt that she had just reached a pinnacle of success, having opened the shop and being names one of the nation's 50 "Retail Stars" by Home Accents Today magazine in 2010.

“It was the worst thing I have ever experienced,” she said of discovering the destruction to the shop. The store was forced to close immediately, and Sears said everything inside the store remains exactly as when she discovered the damage on Oct. 5, as litigation continues.

With the holiday season right around the corner, Sears, a young woman with a large entrepreneurial spirit, would not be defeated. She reopened Modern Vintage in a nearby temporary location near the end of October. The store had to be stocked with all new merchandise.

Sears was not new to store ownership. She says she has a business background, but attended the school of hard knocks. At age 16 she was publishing her own magazine, and at age 24 she opened her first home décor and gift shop called Frivolities in Dexter.

Looking back at that time Sears says, “how did I do that? I don’t know, I was a kid!”

In 2010, after 8 years in business, Sears says she felt like she had outgrown the store. She was interested in pursuing a larger location, and an easier name.

“Things were getting cramped and there were some things I wanted to do differently.”

Sears must have been reminiscent of the old Frivolities boutique during her time in the temporary Modern Vintage storefront. Feeling distressed, she looked back to her hometown, and was inspired.

“I got the idea to open a little sister version of the store, with an emphasis on women's fashion, to keep my business afloat, my brand viable, and also to keep my sanity,” says Sears, “I knew there was a nice little space in my old hometown of Dexter, next to the pub, and two days later, I signed the lease.”

Modern Vintage, at 8118 Main St., next to Dexter’s Pub, opened on March 4, and Sears says she plans to stay.

“I absolutely love to be back in Dexter and am reconnecting with wonderful customers from my Frivolities days.”

The shop offers what Sears feels are classic and timeless new items. She and her mother, Yvonne Sears, run the store together.

Of the Brighton location, Amber Sears says she remains hopeful. She had scouted out the Brighton location for months before opening, and intends to reopen in the same site as soon as she can.

Calling Mother’s Day the boutique’s "own little Christmas," she aspires to have the legal matters settled and the Brighton shop reopened in early May.

“I am looking forward to the day I can have both shops open and running simultaneously but for now, I am putting my all into the Dexter shop.”

Angie Smith is a retail writer for AnnArbor.com. You can contact her at angieannarbor.gmail.com