MIAMI — After 10 years with his name on the label, handbag designer Glen Miller has his name on the door.
He is the creative force behind Glen Miller for Ann Turk, a better-priced handbag collection that is the raison d’etre for a new store on Washington Avenue in South Beach that opened Saturday.
Miller said he was prompted to launch the retail venture after successive years of substantial gains by the company’s wholesale business.
“When you reach a certain point, you want to see your name on your own store,” said Miller, who racked up a 40 percent gain in 1993 and a 50 percent hike in 1992. Volume was $3.75 million last year, and is projected at $5 million this year. The line is carried in 300 stores, including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Henri Bendel and other upscale specialty shops.
Miller founded the company 10 years ago with his mother, Lillian Miller. The company’s name comes from her maiden name — Lillian Ann Turk — and she heads the business side while Glen Miller handles the design.
A retail operation is a longtime dream for Miller, who sees the South Beach location as an investment in the future.
“Five years ago I wouldn’t have done it, but the beach is starting to draw the best stores, and that will continue,” said Miller, who projects store sales of $200,000 the first year.
The 450-square-foot store in the Art Deco district will carry the complete collection of leather, alligator and ostrich handbags, trimmed with ornamental metal frames that have become an Ann Turk trademark.
The line currently has 30 styles. Each season, about 20 classic shapes are augmented with new styles, many of them one-of-a-kind custom pieces.
A trapezoid shoulder bag, launched at the company’s inception, remains a bestseller. It sold 1,500 units in 1993, at $375 wholesale.
Small leather goods, belts, walking sticks, umbrellas and a new jewelry line of metal and semi-precious stones — which Miller also sells wholesale — are showcased in the store.
The boutique’s contemporary interior features limestone floors, light wood, skylights and free-floating display stations, including a circular glass counter in the center of the store.
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Miller, who has a background in film and TV art direction, approaches retail as theater.
Cast bronze relics and antique African amber stones that Miller collected during his travels are integrated into handbag displays.
“Showing elements that inspired a collection creates excitement and makes the line more understandable,” said Miller.
Jewelry is displayed on metal stands made in a new casting shop in Ann Turk’s Miami production facility, where all manufacturing is done. Designed by Miller, the stands complement jewelry themes, such as Greco-Roman coin motifs and antique cameo looks. The new jewelry line wholesales for $35 to $175 and will retail in the store for $50 to $350.
Leather handbags range from $100 to $400, wholesale, while exotic skins wholesale at $450 to $3,500. The more expensive skin bags were revived this year, after a two-year discontinuation that began in 1990. These all will be carried in the store with a retail price range of $210 to $7,200. “The designer handbag market was a pot of gold in the late Eighties, before the economy took its toll — demand decreased and many companies were weeded out,” said Miller. “But just this year, people started asking for exotic skins again. I take it as a sign that, for us, the recession is over.”