NEW YORK — Megan Johnson and Ashley Thompson had a similar feeling when they moved here a few years ago from Colorado and Southern California, respectively.
“A lot of girls in this city started looking the same,” said Johnson, 20, who began noticing that stylish, fashion-savvy twentysomethings plucked their fashions directly (and solely) from some of New York’s best-known contemporary boutiques.
They said these boutiques carried the same designers and, even worse, the same merchandise. Addict, Johnson and Thompson’s new contemporary boutique in Greenwich Village, was conceived to help solve the problem.
“Our shop is filled 50 percent with designers you’ve heard of, and 50 percent with lines you haven’t,” said Thompson, 26, a former buyer for small contemporary boutiques on the West Coast.
Addict, which got its name because both owners consider themselves, “fashion addicts,” opens on Saturday. The 1,000-square-foot shop at 20 East 12th Street is home to 29 designers, among them Jenni Kayne, Barbara Bui, Alessandro Dell’Aqua and Christian Lacroix. Addict is one of just two stores here that carries Sass & Bide’s higher-priced collection, Wolfnation.
In addition, Pegah Anverian, Edena Palazzo and Christian Lacroix have created exclusive items for the boutique. Addict also stocks denim from brands such as J. & Co., Epoch, People for Peace and Sass & Bide. The boutique carries merchandise from dresses to jeans and boots to handbags.
“If it goes on a woman’s body, we’ll have it,” Thompson said. “We like to rummage through trade shows and find the best and the newest clothes for our customers.”
Retail prices range from $35 for T-shirts to $3,500 for cocktail dresses by Kayne and Dell’Aqua, though most pieces hover around $180. In an attempt to highlight the merchandise as part of a collection, Thompson said she will leave look books from the designers on display for consumers to see.
“We’ll let the designers tell consumers how to wear their clothes,” said Thompson, noting that merchandise will be grouped by designer.
“Our shoppers are smart, though,” Thompson said. “They’ll just know what works.”
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Thompson and Johnson were introduced last year when Thompson’s sister was engaged to Johnson’s cousin. The two met at Coffee Shop, a 24-hour eatery a few blocks north of their shop.
Thompson said they have no financial assistance from outside investors. “Because it is our investment, we genuinely care about this and have thought everything out,” she said. Thompson said she projects retail sales to hit $1.5 million in the first year.
The interior of the store, designed by Marke Johnson, Megan Johnson’s cousin, is modern and clean. White rocks provide the foundation under the racks and huge chandeliers light the dual fitting rooms. Walls are lined with toile wallpaper and charcoal sketches of sunglass-wearing women drawn by Zach Johnson, another of her cousins. In just three weeks, the space was transformed into a boutique from a travel agency that had occupied the address for 25 years.
“We wanted the store to look like one of those big, plush closets,” Johnson said. “We definitely didn’t want it to be stiff.”
Thompson added, “I got so sick of walking into stores where I felt awkward or felt like the salespeople were rude or abrupt.” Instead, Johnson and Thompson want women to browse the racks, lounge on the ottomans and simply hang out.
“We’ll be here every day,” Johnson said. “We’ll be the ones saying, ‘That top looks killer on you.'”
Sounding like a true fashion addict, Thompson added, “We’ll be the ones who are jealous that you’re getting all the great stuff we have.”