Dana G takes turn at its own makeover
By: KATHRYN GILLICK - For the North County Times
CARLSBAD ---- After nearly 15 years of helping women keep up with changes in the fashion world, Dana Gibbs, owner of Dana G Boutique, decided it was time to do some updating of her own.
During the first two weeks of January, Dana G underwent a full remodel. The carpet was ripped up, old fixtures were sold, built-in wall space was installed for hanging merchandise, and the color scheme was modernized.
"We felt it was time to do something for our customers," Gibbs said. "We wanted it to have a more open, spacious feel."
She
said she was trying to give the store a modern, New York-loft look.
When the carpet was removed from the store's 1,200-square-foot showroom, Gibbs and store manager Betsy Simpson found a concrete floor with a fanned pattern in a burnt orange color that faded toward brown in the back of the store. The colors and look went so well with the "urban chic" style she was trying to attain, Gibbs said, that she decided to leave the floor bare.
The color scheme was carried throughout the store, from the frame around a large mirror that is propped against one wall to the terra cotta-colored dressing rooms.
The majority of Dana G's clothing hangs in the built-in alcoves, or in one of two white wooden wardrobes that Gibbs kept from before the remodel. Clothing is separated into groups by color scheme, and the built-in hanging areas are topped with shelves that display the store's growing number of accessories.The floor space is reserved for displays and the large brown chaise lounge that Gibbs said is a favorite among husbands waiting as their wives shop.
"I love it," longtime customer Sharon Cheffer said of the remodel. "I liked the way it looked before, but I like the way it looks now, too. It's just Dana ---- it's Dana evolved."
As part of the store's new look, Gibbs said she also updated the merchandise she carries. Gibbs, who selects each piece in the store herself during shopping trips to New York and Los Angeles, said that in addition to the designers she has always carried, she added new items that have a more modern look.
Dana G is also expanding its shoe and handbag department, Gibbs said, and has started carrying a small line of eyeglass frames.
"We're moving toward being a boutique department store," she said. She estimates that with the addition of the new merchandise, the company's gross sales will reach $800,000 in 2006.
Despite the changes, Gibbs said she still carries the same type of merchandise: separates for almost any occasion, from everyday wear to a wine tasting or luncheon event, and a wide variety of accessories.
"This is not your daughter's store, and it's not your mother's store," Gibbs said. "It's not Britney Spears jeans, and it's not Talbot's classic. It's for the woman in between."