A Cow Town Goes Designer

Changing Demographics Mean A New Age for Missoula Fashion

By Brianne Burrowes, 1-23-06

	A shopper peruses her way through Nolita's racks. Photo by New West Photo Editor Chris Lombardi

In the past five years downtown Missoula has been growing -- into Montana's next big fashion district.

Missoula business owners are wising up to the idea that a demographics push is demanding designer labels. A few years ago women wishing to buy the ultra-flattering Michael Stars tee or Great China Wall Seven jeans had to drive to Spokane, Wash. and visit Nordstrom or another store along River Park Square. And those who weren't up for the three-hour drive could Internet shop their way to designer bliss. But now western towns are booming with urban fashion and a shopping addict can get their fix with a trip right here in Missoula down Higgins Ave.

Throughout the week New West is giving snapshots of Missoula's designer-savvy stores and at the end of the week we'll discuss the future of this new trend and what it means for Missoula and the West at large. We start with an interview with the owner of one of Missoula's first designer boutiques, Nolita.

Opening its doors in April of 2001, when owner Margit Meriwether says "denim was starting to pop," Nolita is a store for any age of fashion-conscious individuals.

When starting her business, Meriwether says she had the intention of carrying high-end denim and new designers. It was a niche, she says, that needed to be filled in Missoula. "This is like any of your better boutiques in the market," she says. Carrying popular brands like True Religion, Seven for All Mankind and L.A.M.B., Nolita offers many of the best mainstream designer brands.

	Photo by New West Photo Editor, Chris Lombardi.

"Because of the volume we buy, nobody can carry the brands we have," Meriwether says. She hopes to continue to carry emerging brands despite also carrying what's most popular. "In a venue like ours, women need to see something in a magazine before it's validated," she says. This means many customers will come into the store and buy a brand because one of their favorite celebrities wore it, and won't always recognize the most cutting edge brands, even though Nolita carries those as well.

The store also started out carrying men's clothing but dropped it when they found there really wasn't a market in Missoula. However, in Nolita's sister store in Portland, Ore., men's clothing accounts for 50 percent of the total sales.

Nolita has a loyal customer base across the United States that employees send packages of new clothes to. It's easier for customers to find what they are looking for at Nolita, Meriwether says, because there isn't the population competition like one would find in New York or Los Angeles for the newest products. "We really try to cater to the customer," Meriwether says. "We really try to work with people to sort of help them."

Meriwether's philosophy has worked well. Since opening the first Nolita in Missoula, the store has expanded with the store in the Pearl District in Portland, which opened in May of 2004. Plans are currently on the table to open a Seattle store in the spring or summer of 2006.

As for the competition for other luxe brands offered in Missoula at stores like Betty's Divine and Coco, Meriwether says she caters to a different niche. "We all sort of cross-pollinate really well downtown," she says. "There is really awesome synergy between all the stores.

"We do what we do, and we do it better than anyone else," Meriwether says.

	Photo by New West Photo Editor, Chris Lombardi

And apparently they do. Nolita in Portland has been featured twice in Shop Etc. magazine as one of the top 10 stores to buy denim in the country. It also has been featured in Lucky magazine four times -- a number that's sure to grow when the new store opens in Seattle.

Because of the success of the store, Meriwether says she hopes to turn Nolita into a franchise. "This store does really well," she says. "We've really found a niche here." She attributes the store's success to their customer service, the stellar brands they carry, word-of-mouth by happy customers and links from websites of the designers the store carries.

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