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Payton Rose aims to please to eye, wallet
Mindi Kane, owner of Payton Rose, poses for a portrait in the shop June 25. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media
Quick facts
WHAT: Payton Rose
WHERE: 2760 Dundee Road
OPEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday
CONTACT: (847) 498-7673 or on the web at http://www.facebook.com/paytonrose.nb/info
Article Extras
Updated: July 29, 2012 6:52AM
Payton Rose, a new boutique for women in Northbrook, may look far more upscale than affordable at first glance,
But that is a part of its allure.
It’s actually a trendy clothing stop for women who want to look like a million dollars, but don’t want to spent that much on their wardrobes. The idea for the store took on a life of its own when Mindi Kane, who has lived in Northbrook for five years, said she found local shops lacking.
“Whether I wanted something to go out in on a Saturday night or something to simply run around in, I wasn’t finding what I wanted,” Kane said. “I wanted something that was not too expensive and to buy it at a store that I enjoyed shopping at.”
Kane, who had run her own retail business before, wanted to open her dream store for years, but conditions were’t right.
“I wanted to do it only at one location in Northbrook. I wanted it to be in Dunbrook Plaza, the most centrally located shopping center. I didn’t want to be anywhere but here,” she said.
Two spaces opened in the plaza, but conditions were not right. However, shortly after the New Year began, Kane stopped at Once Upon a Grill for lunch in the shopping center and discovered that the flower shop that had been in a space nearby for 25 years had gone out of business.
“When this location became available, my business went from conception on Jan. 1 to fruition in six weeks, opening March 9,” Kane said. “We even opened a week early on the first day of that week with 80-degree weather. It was so perfect!”
After Kane and her husband, Brian, had three sons — Andrew, 10; Sidney, 8; and Jordan, 7 — she named the boutique after Payton Rose, her long-awaited 3-year-old daughter.
And Kane said she prices her merchandise so customers don’t have to think a long time about whether the items are worth the cost.
“Customers don’t really have to consider if they want to spend $129 on a shirt. They don’t have to worry about how many times they are going to wear it. They don’t have to amortize it to figure out if it’s really going to pay,” she said.
“The shop sells a lot of shirts at $48 and dresses at $58. I try to stay under $100 on all items for the summer. Nothing is cheap, but it is affordable. For the winter, I will probably go to $125, because sweaters cost more money.”
And the shop is focused on women — not “size 2” teenagers. It carries sizes ranging from average to extra large so every customer can find something that will fit, Kane noted.
“This is not a junior’s shop. We cater to women 40 to 65, and younger,” she added.
She also hires local moms to work part-time, many of whom have years of retail experience.
“We’re ‘old school’ here. “We dress you head to toe. We have shoes, purses. If you know how to dress or you don’t know how to dress, we still help you,” Kane said.
“And were always honest. We won’t tell a lie. We rely on word of mouth advertising. Most of our advertising is done by people who come up to one of our customers and say ‘Where did you get that?’”
Robin Groholski of Northbrook said this is one of her all-time favorite shops. She even brought her mother, Dorena Peterson, who is visiting from Virginia, to see what it has to offer.
“I love this store. It has all the latest trends and the clothes are just so cute. It’s so much easier to shop here than to go to Macy’s and be completely overwhelmed by the massive store, “ Groholski said. “The staff is also so friendly that from the minute you walk in they really want to help you. They also know trends and what looks good.”
Another customer, Lisa Hoffman of Deerfield, said the merchandise is well chosen and “very, very nice.”
“The store has a wide variety of high quality, affordable clothes, which are very stylish and really reasonable,” she added. “This place is a hidden gem.”
