Local resident Joelle Davis, center, opened Funky Flamingo on Dayton Street this month, with aid from Christina Ferguson, left, and Brandi Ison. The new shop features plus-size women’s clothing and more. (Photo by El Mele)
New business— Fun and fashion at Funky Flamingo
- Published: June 4, 2025
By El Mele
The Funky Flamingo, a new store featuring plus-size women’s clothing, men’s and women’s accessories, Italian leather bags and a variety of unique finds, opened this month at 108 Dayton St.
Joelle Davis, a Yellow Springs resident of nine years, told the News she decided she wanted to open a store nine months ago, and jumped right into it.
“I thought, ‘You don’t know if you don’t try,’” she said.
Davis was previously employed at Asanda Imports, and working with the “fun” merchandise there gave her an idea of what she wanted to carry in her own store. While the store has evolved since its inception, she has kept with her goal to create a space different from the other shops in town.
“I knew in building my business, I was going to have a place that wasn’t going to be like any other business in town,” Davis said.
Davis’ husband, Trey, helped set up the shop and was an active partner until a few months ago, when Davis brought Christina Ferguson and Brandi Ison onto her staff. From there, she said, everything “just skyrocketed.”
“I have a good team,” she said. “They really made the difference.”
As part of her effort to tailor unique stock, Davis aimed to acquire merchandise catering to plus-size women, featuring sizes from large to 3x, and even up to 4x and 5x for certain pieces. There’s also a selection of Italian leather bags, as according to Davis, “you can buy a cheap bag anywhere, but opportunities to find good-quality bags are limited.”
In addition to carrying women’s accessories, Davis also curated a collection of men’s accessories, and has handpicked products specifically for their “funkiness.”
“We have a lot of off-the-wall, unique things,” Davis said. “I have merchandise that no one has seen before, like a chicken butt lamp — stuff that I was just like, ‘This is so weird. Yes.’”
She added that some items in the store are “a bit off-color,” featuring nudity, profanity and crude humor, but they all serve her efforts to make Funky Flamingo not just a store, but an experience.
“I aim to be ultra-welcoming; I don’t care who you are, come on in,” David said. “I put uplifting messages in my dressing rooms so people would have a space where they feel good, because I know trying on clothes is one of the most humbling experiences you’ll ever have. I want people to hang out, to come in and laugh at our merchandise. When people come in and I hear them chuckle, I think, ‘We did it.’”
To that end, Davis said the store’s name owes to her love of flamingos, which she described as “so weird.”
“They’re pink, they drink with their heads upside down, their knees bend backwards, they sleep with one leg up,” she said. “But ‘The Flamingo’ just didn’t sound right. So we played with some words and then I was like, ‘Well, things are gonna be pretty funky’.”
The Funky Flamingo is open Wednesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
*The author is a student at Antioch College and a freelance writer for the YS News.
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