Window Dressing
Jari Ford, the owner of Jari Boutique in Boston, has a cure for fashion cabin fever.
 (Photos by Erik Jacobs) |
Is January retail just about markdowns?
Not for us. My customers have disposable income and are not necessarily all shopped out in January. She doesn't want to pay full price for winter clothes, but will buy something she can wear soon or take on vacation.
Like what?
Lightweight cashmere sweaters or silk quilted jackets in bright colors.
What were hot styles for the holidays that are continuing into spring?
High-waisted pants. People are starting to ask for them. In the shows, they were just under the breast! That's too high for women in Boston. People are also asking for wide-leg trousers. And navy blue is big again. It's refreshing after all the black.
Why did you close your Beacon Hill and South End stores and move to Back Bay?
Honestly, I just needed something new to motivate myself after so many years.
Do you have a bigger tourist business now?
No, I've always been a neighborhood store. I prefer to be off-Newbury. I couldn't pay the rent. I'm not a chain store or designer name. Tourists go for labels. We don't work off that snob effect. I carry small European designers. My customers don't want to see themselves coming and going.
Was it hard to build a new business?
Local people see your windows. We change them every two or three days. Customers say they walk this way to check them out. Men like them, too. We had a man come into the store after seeing a strapless velvet dress with a leopard silk skirt in the window. He bought it for his wife and then came back a month later to say she loved it but was afraid she'd never have an occasion to wear it. So he rented a photographer's studio to throw her a Valentine's Day party so she could wear it and invited me. Isn't that romantic?
Jari Boutique
236 Clarendon Street, Boston, 617-725-0244, jariboutique.com
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