Sales Check

Designer Discounts in Buffalo Grove

2009-11-17T11:48:00-06:00

Frugal Finds

The Chicago native Jill Sevelow loves finding great deals on clothing and accessories. “I’ve always been a bargain hunter,” she says. “I love the thrill of the hunt. I’ve never paid full-price for anything in my life.” So the former department store buyer opened...

Mom-Tot Boutique in Lincoln Square

2009-11-10T01:34:00-06:00

Phase-Free Fashion
As a mother of three, Ellen Sternweiler knows how difficult shopping can be at each stage of pregnancy. Like any expecting mother, she searched for items that kept her changing body comfortable from season to season. “I got really tired of having to buy

Only She Upgrades

2009-11-03T12:34:36-06:00

Underground Hideout
After 14 years of running the Only She boutique (onlyshe.com), owner Terri Vizzone decided to “shake things up.” She had enjoyed selling clothing and accessories to women but wanted to expand. “We wanted it to be not just fashion but art of...

PBteen Arrives in Lincoln Park

2009-10-27T12:01:17-06:00

Tween Scene
Previously only available to Chicagoans via catalog and online, PBteen (2111 N. Clybourn Ave.; 773-525-8349, pbteen.com), the latest affiliate of Pottery Barn, recently opened a store in Lincoln Park. The new shop, which shares an address with Pottery Barn Kids, is designed specifically for...

Fulton Market’s Latest Shop

2009-10-20T02:27:26-06:00

Posh Pair
While growing up in Winnetka, sisters Jennifer and Maggie Gelber always joked about opening a boutique together in Chicago. “It wasn’t a serious plan. We’d just say, ‘Yeah, one day we’ll open a boutique.’ We came up with names [for the shop] and talked about designing clothes,” Maggie says. But the plan became real after Maggie graduated from the University of Iowa in May 2008 and...

Boutique Opens in Bucktown

2009-10-13T11:55:48-06:00

Season-Free Styles
Knowing she wanted to spend her life designing clothes, Shernett Swaby (her last name rhymes with baby) launched her first collection, a line of underwear for men and women, at age 19. “I did it as a way to make money to create the stuff I wanted,” she says. Within a year, the underwear sold in...

Bucktown's Newest Spa

2009-10-06T11:51:30-06:00

Music to Our Ears
While working as a massage therapist for a handful of big-name spas, Chicago native Lizzie Harris decided she could do it better. The entrepreneur waited a year and a half for “the right moment,” and, despite the economic recession, recently opened her first business venture, Spa La La (2300 W. Armitage Ave.; 773-772-5252, spalalachicago.com), in Bucktown. “I figure if I can...

ENAZ Opens Second Location

2009-09-29T04:32:00-06:00

All in the Family
In the early ‘90s, Susan Lurie opened her first boutique in the northern suburbs. Named ENAZ (444 Central Ave., Highland Park; 847-433-6466, enaz.com), which stands for energy, nature, attitude, and zest for life, the shop catered to the busy mom. Within time, however, Lurie’s three daughters—Melinda Kaplan and Lena and Samantha Lurie—joined her management team, and the shop expanded its collections to include...

Couture Jewelry Boutique in Northbrook

2009-09-22T04:56:00-06:00

Starting when she was 18 and an engineering student at University of California at Berkeley, Julie Liu taught herself how to design jewelry. Her hobby of creating necklaces, rings, and earrings for friends and family grew into a word-of-mouth business. Eventually, Liu quit her job as a hedge-fund manager and, in July, opened a jewelry boutique at the Northbrook Court mall. Located on the upper level of the Neiman Marcus corridor...

DNA 2050 Opens in 900 Shops

2009-09-15T12:35:11-06:00

Calling All Denim Junkies
The multi-designer denim boutique DNA 2050 (900 N. Michigan Ave., 3rd floor; 312-944-0040) returns to Chicago with a new home at the 900 Shops on Saturday, September 19th. The store originally opened a temporary location in Lincoln Park from September 2008 through May 2009. “[It] was a pop up shop for us to test the...