Two longtime Oak Park clothing shop owners have opened new shops on Marion Street.
Takara Beathea owned two shops on Harrison Street in the arts district before moving to 123 N. Marion St. and consolidating the shops.
“I simplified [the name] and just made it ‘Takara,'” Beathea said. Takara is also the name of her clothing and accessories line.
Beathea said the move is already paying off in an 80 percent growth in her customer base. “Yeah, it’s been amazing,” she said.
“We miss Harrison Street, but we love it over here,” said Miya Beathea, Takara’s daughter, who helps run the shop.
Takara Beathea said she’s added new designers and more upscale lines to the shop. She’s also adding natural items, such as bamboo handbags, natural glycerin soaps and El Naturalista shoes from Spain.
The Takara space, owned by former Spauldings owner Don Micheli, was renovated from its previous use as a convenience store. Although the shop sells women’s clothes, sizes 4 through 22X, the space is designed to be inviting to men, too, with the inclusion of a “husband settee.”
“We’re husband- and boyfriend-friendly,” Miya Beathea said.
-
Â
Botega M and its brother store, Vestio, are remade versions of their Spauldings predecessors. The idea, said Don Micheli, was to “broaden the spectrum of price points and selection.”
Pamela Meadows, of Broadview, wandered into the store last week and was attracted to the Lafayette 148 line. She said she’s willing to pay more for pieces of clothing that are more timeless, blending high quality pieces with less expensive trendy items.
“You could take a pair of $68 jeans and pair it with this $675 jacket,” said sales consultant Lynn Kirsch, gasping a bit at the jacket’s price. “The whole idea is to mix and match these things.”
As Kirsch and Meadows talked, a woman who appeared to be in her early 20s looked around the store while talking on her cellphone.
“This is what we are trying to do,” Kirsch said. “Her age, your age,” she said, lightly touching the arm of Meadows, who looked to be in her early 30s, “and my age.” Kirsch is 67.
Dan DeMarte, the buyer at Spauldings, now owns Vestio and is looking to introduce some new, younger looks to his longtime customers. “I like to think of it as classic clothing with an edge,” he said.
The shop is still focused on its customer base, ages 40 to 60, “but we’re trying to bring in some things that will attract the younger guy,” DeMarte said.
Before leaving, Meadows signed up for the next Lafayette 148 trunk show. “So we’ll see you again?” Kirsch asked. “Oh yeah, that won’t be a problem,” Meadows replied.