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Balancing business and art takes both discipline and a light-hearted delight in tackling new ventures. Heidi Giammarese knows this; her art is fashion, and her business, Marie Parie Boutique, 508 Main St., has offered fashionable women’s clothing and accessories to patrons for almost three decades.
She has called the Chicago Avenue-Main Street business community her home since opening her first Main Street venture in 1996. The years have allowed Giammarese to watch the area’s evolution along with the tastes of those who walk through her door.
When she sat down earlier this summer to talk about customers and commerce, she said she always knew that Evanston would be where she’d center her business and personal life. That was in large part due to her grandmother, she said.
“I fell in love with Evanston as a child. My grandmother was in Chicago, but she had a couple she was friends with here in Evanston. So we spent a lot of time here, at the restaurants, going to the beach, and I loved it as a kid. I just thought, ‘One day I’ll end up there,’ and I did.”
Her French grandmother also introduced her to European fashions when she took Giammarese with her on trips to Paris. The little girl who loved the cosmopolitan feel she experienced there eventually became the young businesswoman who wanted to bring some of it back to Evanston.
Giammarese started life in northern California and moved with her family several times across the country before settling in Illinois. She has an artist’s background, but bent it toward the vintage and music store that was her first Evanston business. That opened on Main Street in 1996. She said she still loves vintage clothing, but decided in 2003 that it was time for a change.
“Honestly I did it on a whim. I loved France and I was young and having fun, and just wanted to take a shot and do something different, because I thought I could. I just decided after the holiday season one year, I was going to make the transition the following year, and then I did it. I traveled and found some resources for clothing and for other gifts.”
She created and drew Marie Parie, the store’s whimsical mascot. Then she opened her doors.
At first most clothes she sold were European brands because she appreciated their styles. Eventually European sizing, which she said runs very small, became a steep challenge. Her offerings shifted to creations from local independent designers and artists. She bought what appealed to her, which she described as bohemian chic, but listened to patrons’ requests saying, “Customers have no problem telling you what they want.”
Giammarese said three decades have wrought surprisingly few fashion changes for her or her clientele. She sells more skirts and tops than she did in the beginning, but that’s largely the extent of adjustment.
People wanted more casual choices during the pandemic, she said, but still wanted their comfort clothes to be colorful and stylish. She seconded that: “I still dress up myself. I think one of the easiest things you can throw on is a dress … I’m a true believer that when you look good, you feel good.”
Her customer base has remained loyal. Giammarese said she sees patrons today who were with her when she started at the age of 22; now they’re bringing their daughters and granddaughters in to browse and buy. Generational style differences are likewise slight, she said. Young women who come into the store today are interested in many of the same fashions that their elders liked decades earlier.
Just as successful retail relies on offering what patrons want, it depends on good business practices. Giammarese said she learned that on the fly and made self-discipline one of her most important tools.
“Because I respected my business, I learned to be disciplined. For instance, sometimes I’ll talk to people who say, ‘Oh, I tried a shop for two years, but oh, those hours!’ I just thought, no. I want to be respectful of the patrons’ time, so I will be here.”
Three decades ago the Main Street-Chicago Avenue business district was modest, she said. It included the now-demolished Coronet Theater on Chicago and several car dealerships to the south. Local businesses that had started in the 1900s predominated, with pride of place in low-rise buildings of the same era, she said
Today, the area boasts taller mixed-use retail and residential buildings replacing some of the earlier buildings. That evolution has sometimes generated controversy, “But honestly, it looks pretty now. I think we’re keeping a lot of the older buildings. It’s a balancing act.”
Giammarese said expanding the business district north on Chicago to Dempster Street helped the larger neighborhood become more vibrant, something she applauded, praising the Main-Dempster Mile organization for its work.
The evolution of Giammarese’s businesses and Evanston’s Chicago-Main district mirror each other, she said: “The vibe when I first came here was this leftover hippy vibe and it was so cool. That’s still here. [Evanston’s] not quite the same; it’s a little more polished, but it still has that welcoming feel that I felt back then.”
As for her business philosophy, she said she still buys what she likes, even if she wouldn’t wear it herself. She seeks out looks that she can appreciate, she said.
“That’s how I do it. That’s my secret!”
Marie Parie Boutique, 508 Main St. is open Mondays by appointment; Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call 847-492-9094, or contact the store at info@marieparieboutique.com.
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Kathy Routliffe reported in Chicago's near and northern suburbs for more than 35 years, covering municipal and education beats. Her work, including feature writing, has won local and national awards. She… More by Kathy Routliffe
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