Going chic: 2 boutiques stake out prime retail locations here
Lori Cuervo, left, owner of The Colorful Rooster, and sales associate Pam Slomiany were preparing the store Thursday for today's opening in Southpointe's Town Center.
Pete and Kim Coppola are moving Serendipity from downtown Pittsburgh to Tanger Outlets.
Suddenly, Washington County is stylin’.
Chic boutiques are moving in, starting with the opening of The Colorful Rooster today in Southpointe’s Town Center. The owner, Lori Cuervo, describes it as an “upscale boutique” featuring designer cards, glassware, jewelry and gift baskets among its many items.
Then, on Aug. 10, Serendipity will relaunch in Tanger Outlets. Spouses Pete and Kim Coppola, the owners, shuttered their accessories store Friday following a 12-year run in Downtown Pittsburgh.
The shops’ arrival will help fulfill a dynamic that has been largely missing in the county, but apparently is on the ascent from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore.
“Smaller specialty stores are doing well. This is a national trend,” said Audrey Guskey, a Duquesne University professor who monitors regional and national retail trends. “Department stores seem to be struggling, but the ones doing well are dollar stores and smaller boutique stores.”
Guskey, an associate professor, said the new shops at Tanger and Southpointe are “great news for the Washington area. With all its growth and the energy industry exploding, this is just the beginning. We’ll see more of these stores coming to the area.”
Cuervo is at the forefront, striving to make The Colorful Rooster a place to crow about. She is thrilled to be in Town Center. “This is the only place I considered,” said Cuervo, who signed a five-year lease with a five-year extension.
She was a business owner until recently, head of a Houston, Texas-based company called Valos Solar Ventures, which built and developed power plants. Cuervo ran it for 11 years before selling the plants and shuttering the firm.
“I’ve moved on to do something fun,” she said.
Something new too. Cuervo said this is her first foray into retail. That’s why she hired Pam Slomiany, a former district manager for Ann Taylor, as her sales associate. Both live in Peters Township.
“I know turbines, but I need someone who knows sales,” Cuervo said.
Both were working feverishly in their new workplace last week, preparing for today’s debut. Their shop, situated between Crazy Mocha and an empty storefront, has 1,260 square feet, from which they also sell gourmet truffles, lotions, soaps, leather purses, and merchandise for men and babies as well as women. Designer lines include Kate Spade, Lilly Pulitzer and Mariposa.
That list should include Cuervo. “She makes her own jewelry and has been selling it for four years,” Slomiany said.
Therein lies the source of the unusual name The Colorful Rooster. Laughing, Cuervo said, “I had to come up with something that describes the colorful jewelry I make.”
Their shop initially will be open only on weekdays, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Cuervo said she will establish weekend hours once more people move into the 1400 Main apartment complex under construction in Town Center. When full built out, the complex will have more than 370 units.
Downtown Pittsburgh is becoming more and more residential, but that didn’t keep Serendipity at 2 PPG Place. Parking availability, a longtime issue, has actually diminished downtown while rates have skyrocketed; construction has intensified; and retail sales have generally stagnated.
The Coppolas haven’t been comfortable with the retail climate since long before Macy’s announced, two weeks ago, the pending closure of its midtown location – the last large department store standing there.
“I think they need a new focus on retail,” Kim Coppola said of the city.
Serendipity – subtitled “Accessories to express yourself” – was on the first floor of its Market Square location, where it operated the past eight years. It was in Oxford Centre, Downtown, before that.
“The building is undergoing renovation and we were offered space on the other side,” Kim said. “But with the direction retail is not going downtown, we thought it would be nice to relocate to Tanger. We love the outdoor setting, the atmosphere.”
That is a mutual sentiment. “It will be a great addition to our center!” Tanger General Manager Jodi Dague said via email.
A Pleasant Hills couple, the Coppolas will have about 3,000 square feet from which to operate at their South Strabane Township site, essentially triple the 1,100 they had at 2 PPG. Their shop will be near Janie and Jack Outlet and Brooks Brothers Factory Outlet.
Their work downtown completed, Kim and Pete planned to be at Tanger today, prepping their site for Aug. 10. “We’ll open with fall merchandise,” Kim said.
“We’re fashion-forward, We offer an array of accessories for all ages. We’re not a big franchise chain.”
Serendipity is helping to spark a boutique surge locally, though – along with The Colorful Rooster.