Thursday, November 7, 2013

New Retailer Flies into Virginia-Highland

A new store is coming to Virginia Highland.


The folks behind 310 Rosemont plan to open Winter Wren, a new women's boutique, next week.  The boutique will open at 1004 North Highland Avenue in place of Mitzi & Romano, a longtime neighborhood boutique that closed in late August after over 25 years in business.  Ironically, Rosemont's current location, 1038 North Highland, was Mitzi & Romano's location before their move to 1004.

Roanoke, Virginia-based 310 Rosemont has a total of four locations, two in Virginia in Roanoke and Blacksburg, one in Jackson, Tennessee, and the one here in Atlanta in Virginia-Highland.

The new store, seemingly named for the small North American bird of the same name, will carry women's clothing and accessories, but I'm told there is a chance that menswear could be added in the future.  The majority of the womenswear will reportedly be from Free People, a bohemian line from Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters.

In the early 1970s, Dick Hayne opened a store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his first wife, Judy Wicks, and called it Free People.  Given the popularity of the first store, a second was added, and the name was changed to Urban Outfitters. The store's private label division began to grow rapidly in the early 1980s, and in 1984, a wholesale line, Free People, was born.

The first stand alone Free People store opened in Paramus, New Jersey at Garden State Plaza in 2002.  Today there are over 60 locations across the country including two in Atlanta at Lenox Square and White Provision, and one in Savannah.

Free People is carried at department stores such as Bloomingdale's but I believe this will be the first boutique in Atlanta to specialize in Free People.

Mint Julep, a womens boutique in Peachtree Battle, is a Lilly Pulitzer Signature Store and would seem to be the type of shop that Winter Wren is vying to be for patrons of the Free People brand.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Totally disagree with Mint Julep as a competitor to Winter Wren. Mint Julep has a very preppy "buckhead clientele", while Free People clothing has a bohemian, more VH audience.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon,

I appreciate your comment but that is not at all what I was saying. I was making an analogy. Mint Julep is to Lilly Pulitzer as Winter Wren is to Free People. Winter Wren better fits VaHi and will likely do well.

I'm sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for your comment and readership.

Anonymous said...

Lord, another boutique? The area is saturated with pricey women's boutiques. I'm still amazed at how many are able to remain open.

Anonymous said...

Although Winter Wren is another boutique, it offers something very different than any other in the area. The brand variety and price points are incredible, the Free People selection is AMAZING, and the staff is very sweet. I had a great shopping experience on their first day open. I am an avid Free People shopper so I am very excited I can get it down the street and not have to trek to Lenox Mall. I will be a regular customer!

Anonymous said...

Winter Wren is names after the owner, not the bird :-)

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