La Jolie Rose Moves from Village to Woods

has a whole new look after relocating from the into a free-standing building on Mack Avenue in .

The building offers an open space with many windows and natural light, which help highlight all of the merchandise on display in the locally owned boutique. Merchandise includes women's, men's and children's clothing, accessories, shoes and more.

Owner Rose Marchese closed her business for a little less than two weeks to complete the move. She planned ahead for it with careful ordering during the holiday season to ensure she would not have an excess of merchandise to move.

She enjoyed her time in the Village, where she opened her doors in September of 2008, but she decided to move for a variety of reasons. She is also planning a variety of additional services and events in her new location that are more feasible to complete in the new space, she said.

In her new location, 20155 Mack Ave., her business enjoys its own space, has an entire parking lot for customers and is paying considerably less rent. Marchese also said the layout of the store has been a positive part of the move. 

Her location in the Village was at one point a model condominium converted into a retail space--meaning she had several separate rooms to spread her merchandise throughout. Her new space is less restrictive because of the open floor plan.

Marchese also discovered most of her customers treated her store as a destination shopping experience, meaning she did not draw much on random traffic walking through the Village. Her new location is closer to the expressway and will make it easier access for the many customers she draws from Birmingham, she said.

In making the move, Marchese said, "there were no negatives." She also did a lot of work to notify her regular customers with personal invitations, email blasts as well as posting the news on the business Facebook page.

The new storefront is the former Grosse Pointe Collection, an antiques store that closed its doors last year. It is on the corner of Mack Avenue and Oxford Road, across from .

"I couldn't be happier with the location," Marchese said, noting she did do some work to the building to customize it to her needs. She refinished the hardwood floors, painted the store, added lighting and more. Her renovations were mostly cosmetic and easy to accomplish, she said.

She also has a variety of plans for new events at her store.

Marchese recently attended the International Buying Show in Las Vegas and has brought in a new men's line.

In addition, she is planning to have a stylist at the store on the weekends to do blow-outs for customers who might be going to an event later in the evening. Marchese is hopeful the stylist will be able to offer more services as well.

A new event Marchese is also planning is a children's birthday party. She will offer this weekly and have cookies for the children to decorate.

The new location is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday. The store is closed Sunday and Monday. To reach the store, call 313-882-6966 or visit their Facebook page.