Suzy Martin's Lash Bar at June in Minneapolis

Success! Twin Cities retailers went out of their way to make Fashion’s Night Out an event in Minnesota, and it worked. June designer resale boutique was buzzing at 6 p.m. with stylist extraordinaire Gwen Leeds helping shoppers find their perfect vintage piece and makeup artist Suzy Martin doing free false eyelashes. At the Galleria, which got into FNO in the biggest way locally, the stores that had events were busy – much busier than a typical

Hammitt handbags CEO Tony Drockton at Pumpz & Co., Galleria, Edina

Friday night, several owners told me. I heard a couple of shoppers complain that the incentives weren’t that great, but they missed the concept of Fashion’s Night Out. It’s a night to have fun shopping and celebrate fashion. Arafina, Pumpz & Co. and Len Druskin were among the stores that did that by bringing in designers for trunk shows. I asked Tony Drockton, CEO of hot handbag line Hammitt, how he made the decision to spend Fashion’s Night Out at Pumpz & Company rather than a store with greater national recognition in L.A. or New York. “They asked,” he said, adding that his bags sell extremely well in Edina.

StyledLife, Galleria

StyledLife did fashion seminars and kept customers entertained in between with great music, wine and candy. One of the most popular attractions, hosted by Len Druskin, was the visual display of life-size sculptures straight out of the book “Lemonade for the Lawn Boy,” and a book signing by the local author/artist David Cook. It had a fashion element to it – the sculptures of characters from the book are quite fabulous – but the event wasn’t about buying. It was simply fun and entertaining and a good reminder that stores can be a great place to gather. And if such a gathering calls for new shoes, there they are!