Content area
Full text
"Beside every great woman is a great handbag."
So reads retailer Gail Kanders motto, on a plate in her Pikesville store that rests near a case filled with diamond and pearl jewelry The theme of Kanders upscale women's store, Vasarri, is clear. Fixtures feature brightly painted ceramic shoes, pillows feature shoes and handbags, and candles are also in the shape of small footwear.
The walls of Vasarri are lined with shoes, including Ferragamo. Vasarri is the only independent store in Baltimore to carry the line of Italian footwear.
It's the kind of place that got left behind in the shadow of retail chains. In the world of Internet banking and shopping by mail, Vasarri is a throwback to another era - a time when women shopped at boutiques with doting sales clerks who gave personal service and remembered names and tastes.
"Pikesville used to be known for its women clothiers," said Nancy Garfinkel executive director of the Pikesville Chamber of Commerce. "When the mall opened in Owings Mills, we lost a lot of that kind of business. Vasarri really Us that need."
Retail consultant Mark A. Millman, president of the Millman Search Group Inc. in Lutherville, says that stores Eke Vasarri are not uncommon. In fact more specialty stores are cropping up vying for consumers tired of looking at the same kinds of things at the mall.
"I'm seeing more of the small, retail stores at street level," Millman said. "These stores tend to be upscale, a little more expensive. They can afford to do that because they are not paying the high mall rents. They're offering unique items that you don't find in chains. They appear to be doing some good business."
To Vasarri customers, good business is personalized business.
"When I walk in the door they know me immediately," said customer Sandra Long, chief financial officer of the Maryland State Lottery. "They also know my shoe size and the styles I like....