The Browns Shopping ExperienceBy Susan Bush
12:00AM / Monday, July 02, 2007
 | | Tom Brown shows off a men's tie display at The Browns, a Water Street clothing store set to open next week. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mikki Brown is hoping to redefine local shopping at The Browns, a new specialty clothing store that will open next week at 16 Water St.
Brown and her husband, Tom Brown, own the business.
The Browns Experience
“Our goal is to make this a destination shop,” Mikki Brown said during an in-store July 2 interview. “We are very big on shopping as an experience. There’s really nothing like going into a store with great music, great clothing, and friendly people. Shopping, as defined by The Browns, is leisure activity, social exchange, sports and therapy.”
The 3,000-square-foot site, owned by Charles Fox, has undergone a significant interior spruce-up; the warm-toned wooden plank floors gleam softly, cream-painted walls contrast with red-hued brick, and overhead track lighting illuminate the space. One side of the shop will feature men’s apparel and accessories while the other side will be devoted to women’s clothing and fashionable adornments. There are no small, droopy-curtained fitting rooms or glaring, hiccupping fluorescent light strips at The Browns; the roomy private fitting rooms are lit from either side of generously sized mirrors and boast the same flooring and wall color as the main sales floors. The shop also hosts a public restroom for customer convenience.
Fashion Statements
For men, the store will offer clothing lines by Diesel, Vineyard Vines, Ted Baker, Bills Khakis, Ben Sherman, Robert Graham and Hickey Freeman, and other designers. Ties and belts will be among the men’s selections, Brown said.
For the women, clothing and accessories by Fabrezio Gianni, Joyann, 2-10-10-5, 0039 Italy, Tag Denim, Orla Kiely, Jenne Maag, Glam, and other fashion names will take center stage on the floor. Shoes are included in the mix as well. Kamali Barr XV lotions and other bath-and-body products are the first in a line of similar items that Brown plans to add to the shop’s selections.
The clothing is upscale, with some items priced in the $40 range, some at $100 and up, and at the higher end of the scale, hand-embroidered silk knee-length coats priced at about $1,000.
“These are beautiful things, things that will last,” said Brown.
Home living space hasn’t been overlooked; Brown said the shop will stock some home accessories. Brown and her husband possess years of fashion experience. Tom Brown was a men’s manager at Mitchells of Westport for about a decade, and Mikki Brown’s 20-year career in women’s fashions covers a wide spectrum of the industry. Her resume includes retail stints at Saks 5th Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, and she has worked for several designers including the internationally-known Issey Miyake. Brown has also worked at Adrienne Vittardi and Dana Buchman. Her most recent job was as executive vice-president at Capezio.
“All of my jobs were at the executive level,” she said.
At Home in Hancock
The couple transitioned their lives from a home in Wilton, Ct. to a home in Hancock to open the store.
“We’ve been tourists here ourselves for 12 years, and we love the Berkshires,” Mikki Brown said. “We originally thought that we’d buy a house and be weekenders, but we thought ‘no, let’s buy a house and be permanent.’ And we’d always wanted our own business.”
The town wasn’t chosen as the shop location by accident; much research and Internet investigation occurred about all of the Berkshires before The Browns found its home, she said.
The shop will be open seven days a week for the next few months, Brown said. Hours are Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and 12 p.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. The store will remain open during the winter but operating hours have yet to be decided.
“We’ll play it by ear for the winter,” she said. |
