VIDALIA — Boutique shopping in the Miss-Lou has just gotten a little more portable.

Lauren New launched last week Belles on Wheels: A Mo-bile Boutique, a business that flips the idea of going out shopping on its head by bringing the store to the customer.

That’s where the “wheels” part of its name comes in.

The business started as what New characterized as “a UPS-style truck,,” and after painting the outside, she had wood floors and clean, white walls installed with clothing racks running along the side.

Taller people might have to duck entering the retail space, but it has the definite effect of squeezing an upscale women’s store into a much smaller space.

In the back corner of the truck is a curtained-off changing room, and — for space considerations — New sets up jewelry and accessories outside the double doors.

“When we were putting it together, I had a very specific idea of what I wanted,” New said. “Some people would make suggestions for what I should do, but I said, ‘No, I know what I want.’”

While the boutique will play host to house parties and travel to festivals, it’s not part of a multi-level distributor model.

Instead, New — who spent three years working at the Monroe-based Rustico boutique and helped triple the business there during that time — hand picks all of the clothes, jewelry and other accessories herself.

“I go to market twice a year and look online, and choose things that I like and things I think other people will like,” she said. “I have been lucky to have the chance to have the inside work at a boutique, to see how things are done, and anything a boutique would offer, I try to have as well.”

The emphasis is on affordable but upscale clothing.

“Our items right now range from $8 to $56,” New said. “I try to strive to keep things affordable. It wasn’t long ago I was a broke college student, and I still remember how that was — I am familiar with shopping on a budget. You can dress cute for not a lot of money.”

The idea for the mobile bou-tique came from a similar idea New saw on television while she was a sophomore in high school.

But instead of filing it away and forgetting it, the idea has stayed with her ever since, she said.

“I liked it for the fact that it had a ‘wow’ factor, that it was something different, and that I was not committed to one single area,” New said. “I have already had a lot of people come by because of that ‘wow’ factor.”

She’ll be taking to the road in the coming weeks, but will also be at the Jim Bowie festival in Vidalia this month and at the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race in October.

When she doesn’t have a booking, New said she’ll be parking at locations around Vidalia and setting up shop there. Locations will be advertised on social media.

“All I have to do is seek permission from a property owner and I can park and set up,” New said. “That way, on any given day — on, say Carter Street — people can drive by and see.”

More information about Belles on Wheels can be found at face-book.com/BellesOnWheelsMobileBoutique or by contacting New at 317-715-4772.