Jun 17, 2009

Merchants expand, despite slow economyBy Mary Beth AlmondCandGNews.com

Birmingham — At a time when many local business owners are exhausting all their energy just keeping one store open, several savvy merchants are setting their sites on expansion.

Rather than riding out the recession, Stacie Maier and Bridget Sagmani — seven-year co-owners of Birmingham’s 110 Couture — saw the current economic climate as a time of opportunity. Last year, Maier and Sagmani opened a fashionable children’s clothing boutique called Sam and Lola at 580 N. Old Woodward, and the duo just opened a new women’s clothing boutique called Bridget and Stacie in the front 1,000 square feet of the very same store this week.

“We’re taking a lot of the contemporary, sexy clothing from 110 Couture to Bridget and Stacie, and then we’re stocking 110 Couture with evening, cocktail, and a little bit of lingerie,” said Maier.

Once inside 580 N. Old Woodward, hip moms can head in to Bridget and Stacie to shop for clothing from designers such as Ingwa Melero and Alice and Olivia for their closets. Down a small hallway filled with shiny wall-mounted candy dispensers is Sam and Lola’s with clothing and accessories for trendy tots — such as Rock Star Baby bottles and pacifiers complete with skull and crossbones and Heelarious’ line of soft baby shoes designed to look like high heels.

When Maier first leased the space for 110 Couture seven years ago, she said, she really didn’t have much support — or money. The one thing she did have, was a dream.

“I was working for a corporation that never said thank you, I had no money, I had nothing, but I had an idea. Over the years we’ve just been so fortunate to cultivate such an incredible clientele and to really be a part of the community. … You become this extended family and you get excited because you want the town to thrive,” Maier said.

Although Maier admitted she and her partner struggle every day, she said they choose to reinvest in their business because they committed to the town, the community and their families. She encourages others to chase after their business dreams and help fill the empty storefronts downtown — no matter what their current circumstances are.

“When the economy is hard, like it is now, I want people to understated that they can still survive and prosper. We have customers every day that come in, and it’s such a gift, but it’s something that we’ve earned, and anybody can do it if they really wanted to,” she said.

In a time of economic uncertainty, Tawny Thieu of Pink Pump has managed to successfully create and expand her funky shoe boutique. Thieu opened her first Pink Pump — formerly Shoe Envy — in Bloomfield Hills in 2006 and is currently in the process of debuting two new locations this summer — one in Birmingham at 150 W. Maple June 17, and the other in Royal Oak at 309 S. Main in late July.

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