Il Vostro Boutique at 50th & France is closing Aug. 14. What's most troubling about this particular boutique closing is that owner Stacey Finnegan, a former Best Buy exec and savvy entrepreneur, worked tirelessly to make her store a success. She participated in local fashion shows (often at her own expense), she hosted trunk shows and in-store parties and ran sales and offered extra discounts to her best customers. When it was clear that she needed to spend more time in the store herself, she did that, and always was available to help.
I think Il Vostro suffered from a fashion point of view that was a bit
to narrow in its appeal. But perhaps, given the times, the bigger issue was pricepoint. Even among those who liked the look, not
many are willing to pay boutique prices today. Even in Edina.
"I have no regrets about the risks I took and the jobs I created," Finnegan said in a statement today. "This is not a failure of the brand or the concept, but a sign of greater economic forces that are out of our control.”