Open, airy, trendy, and aesthetically pleasing all begin to describe Nich Boutique, a point of interest in downtown West Chester for most college-aged girls. The boutique is known for bringing an urban feel in the form of New York City/Los Angeles inspired clothing and accessories to Pennsylvania suburbia.
Owner Kristy Mak-Lytle, walked me to the back of her Collegeville location where we took seats upon a golden, flower-patterned velvet couch that was situated on top of a shag carpet. In front of us, stood a coffee table clad with piles of fashion books and magazines.
Once situated in this seemingly homey living room, I first wondered when Nich began. Lytle proudly said that Nich Boutique opened in West Chester in June of 2007. When asked how she came upon the idea of owning her own boutique, she replied that it stemmed from her work in retail.
After a full-time job in retail at Urban Outfitters, working both in retail and the home office, as well as spending some time at Target, she decided to solely work at Nordstrom while she devised her plan to open her own store.
Lytle took her retail experience and translated it to work in her favor when it came to building the boutique and selecting garments for it. The process of buying pieces to build Nich’s wardrobe is an intricate one as Lytle attends trade shows in New York and Los Angeles several times a year to help her stay on trend.
One of her favorite vendors is Ya Los Angeles, which is a clothing store based out of downtown Los Angeles. At any given time, Lytle may feature between fifteen and twenty different vendors in her stores.
Included in those vendors are a few local ones. She states that on average, she receives 2-3 emails a day about vendors inquiring about her take on their clothing, although she only accepts 2-3 new vendors in a year.
Lytle has incorporated the crafts of local vendors such as Bling Babe, who takes vintage jewelry found in estate sales and hand cleans them to be trendy worn pieces. Nich Boutique also features unique handmade headbands and jewelry from fashion blogger OhHeyChrisi. These types of one-of-a-kind finds are what separates the stores one can find at a mall and what one can find at a small boutique like Nich.
An important platform directly related to the business of Nich is the use of social media. Lytle says that six years ago, Facebook was huge in gaining business because nearly every young person had that form of social media.
Now, Nich utilizes Twitter to keep in contact with blogger friends and stay on top of Public Relations updating. However, Instagram has become their biggest platform, as it’s easiest for their clientele to follow their account and see pictures of new arrivals of clothing in the stores.
When entering one of the store locations of Nich Boutique, a certain aesthetic is established. The idea in mind was for a very comfortable shopping environment that Lytle describes as “organic and ornate with a touch of femininity.”
When it came to the décor of the original West Chester boutique location, she wanted to compliment the architecture of the store itself. Each room had a different vibe, and she played off that vibe. The three rooms had such defining character that it was easy for her to decide which room would provide which purpose.
For instance, the room with brick walls became the place in which she carried men’s articles of clothing. She said that she wanted to create a type of “grandma’s living room” with a vintage chandelier and cushy seats.
Her husband, who she met at Urban Outfitters when he was a display artist, built all of the wooden paneling and hanging décor in the stores, which adds a special touch of personalization.
Lytle is aware of how some people find that boutique shopping can be intimidating, and she tries to make it as pressure-free as possible. First in homey décor, but secondly in how she and her employees treat their customers. Customer service is their first priority and she prides herself and her employees on their abilities to read customer’s needs and the level at which they need or do not need their service. Lytle takes note of their customer service, that they will do just about anything to make the customer have a pleasant shopping experience.
When it comes to expanding the boutique, there is no talk of opening any more store locations at the moment, but there is talk of launching a new website. This website, which Lytle hopes to launch soon, will incorporate e-commerce, an exciting new aspect for loyal clientele.
Lytle speaks of how some of the loyal West Chester girls who started buying from their store their freshman year and continued to do so through their senior year, are disappointed once they have to move away after graduation. This new addition of e-commerce will allow them to get the clothes that they love from wherever their post-college lives have taken them.
Kirsty Palo is a fourth-year student majoring in English with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at KP762793@wcupa.edu.