Exclusive Uptown, Minneapolis boutique Intoto is closing after 21 years (sale details here). The economy is not to blame. Owner Karen Heithoff is 65, has five grandkids in New York and other interests to pursue on her bucket list. “It was just time,” she says. If you’re not familiar with Intoto, it’s probably because you couldn’t afford it – the store stocked luxury labels like Dries van Noten, Phillip Lim and Paul Smith and never apologized for it. “When we opened, our customer wasn’t shopping in Minneapolis – they would shop when they traveled,” Heithoff said. “We romanced those customers. They really trusted us.” Despite the coming of the Mall of America and the steady ascent of the Galleria, despite more recent high end boutique arrivals like OPM, and our more recent love affair with fast fashion from the likes of H&M and Forever 21, Heithoff believes there is room in the Twin Cities for another designer store like hers. Here are her secrets:
- Service. “We would do anything for our customers. We really became friends with them.”
- Have a point of view. “Our customers learned to appreciate our taste. We educated them. If you confuse your customers by switching directions all the time, it’s the kiss of death.”
- Don’t be ruled by the economy. If you’re a high end store, stick with it, even in tough times. “Of course it’s been challenging in the last 18 months, but if someone wants a $10 t-shirt, they can buy that elsewhere, not from me,” Heitoff said. “In our case, our customers are loyal and they continued shopping with us.” Her one concession, within the lines she stocked, she looked for a broader range of price points.
- Don’t underestimate the market. “There’s a refined fashion look in Minneapolis that could be worn anywhere. It’s very sharp.”
Motherhood could be the launch point for your modeling career: Hot Mama is looking for a mom over the age of 35 with a daughter over the age of 5 to appear in a print advertising campaign. The casting call takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 12 at Hot Mama’s 50th & France flagship. Top finalists will be voted for on Shopmama.com. It’s a smart way for this fast growing mini-chain with 16 boutiques in the Twin Cities and beyond to connect with its core customers and get them invested in the brand.
Iron Mike Ditka stopped by the myTalk 107.1 studio for a live chat with the Shop Girls on Saturday. We think he got lost on his way out of sportsville am1500, but decided to take full advantage. He looked sharp in a black shirt, jeans, boots and aviator glasses. His hair was perfect (I asked about it, but he didn’t give away trade secrets). When we admired his shades, he recounted an amusing tale about wearing them to Whole Foods (he’s so fancy), buying his groceries, paying (no reusable bags), getting in his car to go home – and reading about the entire episode, sunglasses and all, in the gossip columns the next day. “Why is that news?” he asked. Probably because we’d have to think about things like oil spills and the economy if it wasn’t.
Hear the whole conversation – including his thoughts on Brett Farve and Bud Selig and skinny jeans here.
Okay, not skinny jeans.
The newest Fun Sisters boutique at 216 S. Main St. in Stillwater is open regular hours, seven days a week. Anyone who started shopping this store at its original location at 42nd and Nicollet in South Minneapolis, knows that schedule indicates a significant shift: Fun Sisters was one of the early “occasional” stores, open just one weekend a month years before it was trendy. The philosophy of occasional stores is to build excitement and condition shoppers to show up and buy on specific dates – or risk missing out. “No one is that desperate for trinkets anymore,” the manager of the Stillwater Fun Sisters told me when I stopped by today – a Thursday, just after noon, when at least a half dozen women were ogling the inexpensive bags and accessories. Interesting. Did the recession kill event shopping? Has being less needy, or at least more self-conscious about wanting stuff, made shoppers less likely to pencil in a special trip to a store open just a couple of days a month? Or are there just so many of these stores now that the thrill has waned? And can being available all the time compensate for the frenzy that limited hours can create? Thanks to Fun Sister’s evolving strategy, we’ll find out.
With the fashion week runway shows and hoopla past, it’s down to dollars for MNfashion, the organization dedicated to providing resources and professional development to local designers. The group wants to establish a sewing cooperative that would provide training, workspace and help designers manufacture their creations at a reasonable cost for retail sale – often one of the major stumbling blocks for budding artists. Time to give them a vote of confidence. MNfashion was one of 1,000 organizations accepted into the May Pepsi Refresh Challenge. The 10 with the most votes on May 31 will be given $50,000 to fulfill their mission. If you appreciate our growing local fashion scene, vote (as often as once a day).
Lane Bryant model Ashley Graham (with fellow LB model Tonya Pittman) was at Mall of America Thursday for the opening of the plus size retailer’s redesigned store. But all eyes were on her, thanks to the controversy over television networks reportedly refusing to air the lingerie commercial she stars in. Once we got the serious questions out of the way about size and prejudice in America (read it in the St. Paul Pioneer Press), we talked about her exercise routine (yoga and a trainer once a week – “If I’m not busy”) and what she’d eaten for the day (yogurt, a ham and cheese omelet with whole wheat toast for breakfast; a chicken Cesar salad and side of fries for lunch). And we talked about being a size 16 – which frankly, has never looked so good. Ashley, who doesn’t seem “big” in the least in person, had not yet changed into her Lane Bryant uniform when we met. She was wearing Robert Rodriguez skinny pants, a Top Shop shirt, a cropped jacket from Barney’s and carrying a Mui Mui bag. What’s that about plus size girls have no shopping options? “I can’t just walk into Yves Saint Laurent and buy a cute shirt,” Ashley said. (Neither can I, honey – wallet size hurts, too.) But she did name several designers that have extended their size run, including Marc Jacobs and Prada. Of course, her size 16 might technically be considered “plus,” but it isn’t exactly the same league – or struggle – as a 26. Ashley said she’d like to see the retail world do away with the “plus” label. Why can’t every women’s department simply feature clothes from a 0 to a 32 without, as she says, “banishing (plus size women) to the back of the room?”
Model, actress agent, reality star-who-won't-quit Janice Dickinson killed some time talking to me before Christopher Straub's show at the St. Paul Hotel Sunday. She looked better than expected up close, although nothing moves on that face. She was aloof, yet down-to-earth ("When I'm not painted and pulled, I'm a middle aged fatigued old lady.") She had never met Minnesota's "Project Runway" favorite and she called him Christian (Siriano slip?) when she introduced him. But she did sit dutifully in the front row next to her good friend, Privileged Model Management owner Craig Damon, who was involved in producing the show. She curled one of her inflated lips when asked to take pictures with fans, but did it anyway. She complimented my dress. She talked to me about beauty ("Drink TONS of water"), modeling ("They look like a factory stamped bunch of cattle"), Heidi Montag's plastic surgery, by her own doctor ("At least I was 32 – I waited until I lactated"), Dancing with the Stars ("Pam Anderson is just neat.") and volcanic ash ("It's so important for algae levels in the ocean. And did you know it's the best thing for damaged hair?") She didn't seem to care much who I work for, only that I had a notebook. I told her I'd likely write a little something for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Little?!!" she said. If you want an expose, I told her, you've got to give me more. "Read the books," she retorted with a shrug.
People over 30: Put a dress on and go to a fashion show! The 20somethings who partied past midnight at the Envision show on Saturday night (which included some really fab, very wearable pieces from Bumbershute, Local Motion, OPM and others) think we're lame. Not helped by the fact that I took my 20-year-old intern as my date (you looked great, Megan!) when my friends – and babysitter – failed me. We've got to represent. I've already pointed out some highlights for MNfashion Week but after going backstage at the Ritz Theater yesterday and seeing the Ballet of the Dolls dancers prepare to strut their stuff to Mary J Blige in 8-inch platforms, it's worth suggesting again that you get tickets to Fashion Ball for April 23 or 24. This is the first time Glamorama vets Myron Johnson and Grant Whittaker have done a fashion week event and it looks like it's going to be a blast. Besides the theatrics, they'll be showing collections from Grethen House N'Etc and J. Novachis.Tickets are $30 and proceeds support Ballet of the Dolls. Also of note: Laura Fulk's April 20 show, originally invitation only, has been opened up to the public. Click here to get on the list while the gettin's good. Last year, Fulk's presentation, while entirely conceptual, really raised the bar locally for serious fashion show production. Now that she's aligned herself with business partners focused on getting her clothes into stores nationally, it will be interesting to see how all the elements come together. YOU could witness a designer in the making. And wouldn't it be refreshing to do something other than dinner and a movie?
Well, it's not Heidi Klum or even Tim Gunn, but Project Runway's Christopher Straub promised someone "big" would be coming to his premiere runway show at the St. Paul Hotel on April 25 and today he confirmed Janice Dickenson will be sitting front row. Hey, in Minnesota, that's better than a local news anchor, right?
Straub has never actually met Dickenson; both happen to work with Oryon Media, which is staging a model call earlier the same day that Dickenson will also headline. Straub said he'd love to dress the model-turned-reality star for his show, but he's not sure she'll go for all the ruffles. "She has a very specific body type."
General admission tickets are still available for $15 through Vital Culture.
