Business of the Week: Celine’s Boutique & Shoe Repair, Mt. Kisco
Sometimes when a woman looks into her closet, it may be difficult for her to choose what to wear. She knows that a dinner or business appointment calls for more than jeans or other casual outfits, but formal attire might be too dressy.
A new boutique in Mount Kisco is helping women to bridge that gap with smart-looking, reasonably priced clothes and accessories that can be used in a variety of situations.
Celine’s Boutique & Shoe Repair, which opened in early October, has an impressive selection of dresses, skirts, blouses, sweaters, pants, shoes, handbags and jewelry for a relatively small store.
“There are lots of stores that sell casual clothing,” said Katy Garces, who co-owns the South Moger Avenue store with her husband Manny. “Our clothing is a little more formal for the evening but very elegant with nice jewelry.”
This is actually the second location for Celine’s Boutique, named after the couple’s oldest of three children who gave her parents the idea to open a boutique. Garces, who has loved fashion since childhood, launched the first store about four years ago after giving birth to her youngest child. At the time, it no longer made sense for her to commute to her job at Columbia University. The original Celine’s Boutique is located five minutes from where the family lives in Hopewell Junction.
“It started little by little,” Katy Garces said. “I started with shoes and bags. That’s my main thing, shoes and bags. One section was shoes, one section was bags. Then I started, after six or nine months, with jewelry.”
When Manny was laid off more recently from his job in the finance department at Columbia, Katy suggested that they open a second store, which he would manage. They searched for a suitable location and settled upon downtown Mount Kisco because of the traffic they saw on South Moger Avenue.
Now armed with four years experience in the clothing and fashion industry, they’ve been able to launch the second store with a full line of merchandise.
For jewelry, Celine’s Boutique offers a wide array of small and large earrings, including hard-to-find clip-ons, bracelets and necklaces. They also carry bridal jewelry. Most pieces are moderately priced so there’s something for everyone.
Manny said that when he and Katy head to shows and search for merchandise to carry, they look for items that have special qualities.
“You could be there the whole day, but if we don’t see anything that we like we don’t buy anything,” he said. “It’s got to catch our eyes and be different.”
One of the more unique features of Celine’s Boutique is the influence of Manny’s family. The son of a retired Bronx cobbler, the shoe repair corner of the store has been a nice addition that has generated more business when people who are already in the store see that they offer the service. Katy said it has definitely generated more foot traffic since there are a diminishing number of places for people to have new soles and heels put on.
Celine’s Boutique also has a leather restoration service, so if anyone has leather bags, jackets or shoes that need touching up, they can bring them in as well.
With the shoe repair side of the business likely to attract more males, the next thing the couple hopes to add are ties and dress shirts and gloves for men.
Celine’s Boutique &Shoe Repair is located at 10 S. Moger Ave. It is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. They also plan to open soon on Sunday afternoon.
For more information, call 914-864-0661 or visit www.celinesboutique.org.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/