The Art of Retail

As a chef at a fine restaurant creates a menu with complementary fare, so the tastemakers here define for us the styles that work well together. To do this, they scour markets and runways worldwide and bring back the best to the Twin Cities—meaning we, as shoppers, don’t have to sift through the mediocre to find the gems.

Christina Nguyen
Owner, Design Collective
“I’ve always had a love of fashion, shopping at unique boutiques, and supporting local arts. It has been a great experience to meet and work with so many talented local designers.”

Despite having no retail experience, two years ago Christina Nguyen opened Design Collective, a gallerylike boutique selling locally made clothing, accessories, and jewelry. Now her roster of local designers numbers more than eighty, and the store’s inventory runs the gamut from funky to quirky to sophisticated.

Roxy Freese
Owner, Bibelot
“Bibelot means, depending on the dictionary, ‘small art object’ or ‘small precious gift.’ We have redefined the word for our customers many times throughout the last forty years.”

Roxy Freese is a Twin Cities retail grande dame. She had no retail experience when she opened her first Bibelot in St. Anthony Park in 1966, but her fine arts background and love for museum gift shops guided her then as it does now. Her style thumbprint is expressed in the four stores’ mix of trend-conscious and classic gifts and clothing.

Michael Druskin
CEO, Len Druskin
“I want our customers to get pieces that become their favorites.”

Michael Druskin grew up in retail. His father, Len Druskin, opened his first store at 50th & France in 1976. Not surprisingly, Michael’s first job after college was in retail, at Toys “R” Us corporate headquarters in New Jersey. In 1994, he returned to the Twin Cities to join the family business, which is heralded for its always-rotating crop of new designers, as well as its staple brands. This fall, Michael opened Len Druskin Man in Gaviidae Common.

Kevin Quinn
Owner, StyledLife
“Personal style and our need for authentic self-expression is my focus and inspiration. StyledLife is a lab for customer inspiration and feedback.”

In his past life in New York City, Kevin Quinn was a retail fashion consultant to Seventh Avenue fashion firms and a fashion director with Nordstrom, where he identified trends, bought merchandise, opened new stores, and produced fashion shows. In addition to stocking his StyledLife store with sexy, modern fashion accessories, he also runs styledlook, a wardrobe-consulting firm.

Stephanie Morrissey
Owner, Stephanie’s
“My look changes every day, so you never know what to expect from me or from the store.”

After a buying trip to New York for a boutique she managed in New Hampshire, Stephanie Morrissey knew she had found her calling. Three years later, she returned to her native St. Paul and opened her own boutique. This tried-and-true fashionista walks the walk—she wears the designers she carries in her store (including Nicole Miller and Tibi), reads every fashion magazine she can, and finds inspiration on and off the runway.

Jay Alexander
Buyer, Pumpz & Co.
“I like to think of our merchandise as wearable investments. If we don’t support local boutiques, we’ll all end up looking alike.”

After stints at Dayton’s and Neiman Marcus, Jay Alexander landed at Pumpz & Co., an upscale women’s shoe and handbag boutique. As a buyer, Alexander brings in Miu Miu, Hogan, Prada, Linea Rossa, Car Shoe, L’Autre Chose, and other high-end lines. He enjoys offering personalized service and bringing in designers (including Carlos Falchi and Rafe Totengco) to meet his clients.

Ini Iyamba
Owner, Ivy
“My customers understand the trend but don’t always follow it.”

Before opening Ivy Women’s in Uptown, and recently, Ivy Men’s + Design on Glenwood Avenue in Minneapolis, Ini Iyamba had a string of retail sales gigs, including selling toys at FAO Schwartz and working as a manager/buyer at Loring Park’s Exile. When buying for his stores, Iyamba uses trends only as a guideline, preferring to buy “classic looks with an edge.”

Chris Plantan
Owner/creator, russell+hazel
“Real style is not about one formula. It is a melding game as much as it is an art.”

Chris Plantan’s russell+hazel products were popular online and in stores nationally and internationally long before the retail space opened last year. Plantan values customer feedback so highly she moved the design studio so it is adjacent to the store. In addition to the namesake store’s sleek office accessories line, it also carries books, Loro Piana shawls and throws, and kitchen items by Bodum and Grazzini.