May 15, 2009 · Daniel Blue

DB: Fashion or Classic

You may not have noticed much of what is happening in the fashion world of Tacoma’s downtown because you might still shop at the Tacoma Mall. Over the past few years a crop of fancy indie clothing boutiques have opened, attempting to serve the local residents that may be driving to Seattle or just settling for Nordstroms in their quest for unique clothing. However, in a somewhat disturbing sign of the times, three out of four high end clothing stores in the downtown area have closed within the past year. Rocky and Coco’s, Tiki Lounge and Dame Lola, have gone the way of the Woolworths. Granted, Dame Lola does not claim to be closing out of lack or recession; Mrs. Dashow is having a baby, but it would seem that high end jeans and $200 tops aren’t a priority for the typical Tacoma shop-o-holic.

For the boutique minded clothing shopper his leaves Redline (2503 6th Ave (253) 627-9910‎) across from Posh Home, and Sonja “Clothes to Live In”, (2701 N 21st St) right beyond the ravine bridge where North I becomes N 21st.) Unless you want to drive to University Place and shop at Cake (in the same shopping center as Trader Joe’s). However, lets not forget our friends in the “pre-worn” clothing business who seem to be doing well enough to stay open, i.e. Pure, Urban X Change, Funkoma, Glenna’s, and Vanity Boutique, etc…

I see this trend in closure as proof of the type of people Tacoma currently attracts and supports. We need to look at the hard “Market Facts” here: High end condos empty, high end fashion boutiques closed. I have no problem with Tacoma being fancy, but we cant pretend we are Bellevue for goodness sake, we have a stinky port not a ritzy waterfront.

I’m all for the good growth that has come about as a part of the College and Museum movement, and yes we are better than we were ten years ago. I do not however think it is good for moral to start another business or cater to the types of businesses that are just going to close in two years because we still haven’t figured out the types of people that actually live in and around Tacoma. We have soul! Damn it! We will shop at the places that actually seek to serve rather than transform.

Tacoma is like a teenager who sees zits in the mirror and instead of just owning youth and being itself, puts on a ridiculous and awkward costume it saw on reality television, to prove it has some sense of style and cool. Every one at school knows that you aren’t T-Pain, but your faux gold jewelry keeps people from looking you in the eye for very long so it suits you just fine.

Perhaps it would be wise to interview Sonja and ask her how she has managed to stay open for nearly ten years. It seems to me that it has very little to do with pretension and a whole lot to do with asking the question, “Who am I, really?”

Recently I went with Sonja to “market” in a Fremont building that had been transformed into a hot-off-the runway industry hoedown for clothing reps and store owners. I watched Sonja shop intelligently for her clientele who have supported her for many years by purchasing products such as her very own “Gritty Tacoman” T-shirt. Sonja wasn’t interested in high priced high hyped items. She choose classic styles at low price points with good quality, because she knows that people shouldn’t by clothes (or condos) that will be out of style in a few years. Tacoma shoppers want something that will last and continue to please the eye for years to come.

Sonja has continued to thrive even in these hard times because she focuses on the middle ground between what people want and what they actually need. This type of care for the life and happiness of her customers seems different than the typical “Your ass looks good in those” type of salesman ship that has not proven to work well in this town … or these times.

So, who are you really, Tacoma?

Filed under: DB

18 comments

Jeff May 15, 2009

Rocky and Coco’s closed because the proprietor moved to San Francisco and took the store with her. I’m optimistic enough to keep R&C’s out of the ‘victim of the recession’ bucket.
argyle May 16, 2009

“Tacoma is like a teenager who sees zits in the mirror and instead of just owning youth and being itself, puts on a ridiculous and awkward costume it saw on reality television, to prove it has some”
Doesn’t the fact of these types of stores closing mean that Tacoma is, “owning youth, being itself,” rather than affecting a bunch of false bling?
P.S. Why can’t I use HTML in comments?
dni May 16, 2009

Thanks Daniel for mentioning the disappearance of these shops. I thought they had just gone unnoticed by all except those that shopped there.

There are stories behind the closures of these shops, beyond economy. It takes a lot more to run a small business than just showing up every day…and people have lives outside of their stores.

Its unfortunate that we just don’t have the bodies downtown to support higher end shops in a healthier way (i.e., beyond survival so shop owners can succeed professionally and personally)
Squid May 16, 2009

A couple of other clothing biz survivors deserving of mention are Julia Ellen and Envy, next door neighbors in the Proctor ‘hood.
rb May 16, 2009

I loved Dame Lola in the old location (before the flooding). When she moved she brought in new brands and the prices climbed even higher.

It always seemed like an interesting choice. Baby or not, if business was booming the store would probably stick around.
nanette colby May 17, 2009

Just a note of a few other resale shops in Tacoma. Orange on Broadway and re-fine Clothier on 7th and Commerce. We are hanging on down here, come and see!
tressie May 17, 2009

thanks DB for the shout out…and Nanette for your shout out…we do this because we love it…we love it when ya’ll come in and have a good time…this is it —>;-)Tacoma shoppers want something that will last and continue to please the eye for years to come.
Sandy May 18, 2009

Re:#7 “we love it…”
free market economy is kept breathing by your passion, wisdom, and diligence. Those elements are a great foundation for those things worth while. As I saw the pricey condos go up though, I did wonder what was at the foundation of those plans…guess I’m not the only one who was wondering…
tressie May 18, 2009

thanks db for the shout out ! and thanks Nanette for the reminder about the other shops here on Broadway…Let’s include What? Shop …for clothes.Also, Zephyr just moved to E 26th in the Dome District, and Megs&Mo in the Proctor…
tressie May 18, 2009

sorry for the wonky posts…once again…Zephyr is now at E. D & Puyallup …across from Alfreds…
Jennevieve May 19, 2009

Even if you are rolling in cash, you really needs a $200 t-shirt?

I try to support local businesses, but recently a couple of them, especially on 6th, I won’t mention who, spend all their time when I am in the shop telling me how much business has gone down instead of trying to help me find something I want to buy. It turns me off, honestly.
Heather May 19, 2009

I was sad to see Tiki Lounge gone.

Annette B, across the street from Sonja, now has a small selection of non-maternity clothes. I found a great pair of jeans there, that I’ve been wearing almost daily, and enjoyed a lovely conversation with the owner. Sonja is always helpful and pleasant, as well.
RapPilot May 21, 2009

I liked Rocky and Coco’s. I was sad to see them go, but I think Tacoma just simply lacks the demographic ( enough young people with disposable income ) to support these kinds of places. We can’t even get a Banana Republic or JCrew — they wouldn’t even make it here.

I admire what Mr. Blue is doing. It’s inspiring. It’s what gives the city soul. We need 1000 more like him.

For fashion to really work here, we need to concentrate talent and resources, create a buzz and build something that only exists in Tacoma. Something along the lines of a garment district with local designers, designer communes, cool fabric shops/warehouses and boutiques that sell local and obscure designers all sharing the same general location. We need to create a destination. Even for folks from Portland and Seattle.

Okay, I’ll put down the crack pipe.
altered Chords May 21, 2009

For upscale retail and thriving arts to succeed we need:

businesses to re-locate here or start up here that will hire people.

That will:
1) give people income.
2) cause more people to move here.

If we don’t attract businesses that offer jobs the only thriving clothing store will be Goodwill.
Squid May 21, 2009

aC: My PhD. chemist colleague says “everything is soluble in money.”
Sandy May 23, 2009

It has come to my attention that a presumably (I have no stats, just functional eyeballs) significant portion of Tacoma’s demographic embraces the notion that a satisfying life involves investing their hard-earned finances in filling up with much spirit-water-logged-discount tobacco and working up a sweat dropping money into machines. Deliverance from those compulsions, those joy-sucking vortexes, could perhaps free up some cash for some productive community-building spending. (again, just a presumption on my part.)
just a tacoma girl May 27, 2009

Sandy, srsly? The trite Tacoma bashing is boring.

I agree about Annette B—it’s my go to place when I need something cute. The store is edited well and the staff is super helpful.
Sandy May 27, 2009

@17 “Sandy, srsly? The trite Tacoma bashing is boring.”

Not sure how you got Tacoma bashing out of that. Here’s the between the lines translation, and although dumbfounded by it, I apologize for the confusion:

Money dumped into the AREA CASINOS could be better spent at businesses providing ACTUAL GOODS AND SERVICES IN TACOMA.

And YES, I AM serious.

Have a FABULOUS and PROSPEROUS DAY, TACOMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!