About three weeks ago, David and Tricia Kelly opened Nectar Clothing in the Claremont Village in the hope of providing affordable yet stylish clothing to the Claremont public. This is the third clothing store the Kellys have opened; they started off with a designer boutique in Redlands called denM, and then adapting to the recession, opened the first Nectar Clothing, also in Redlands.
“People love shopping in charming downtown areas like Redlands and Claremont but are regularly discouraged because of the prices,” Tricia said. “Our concept is to bring a boutique store, inspired by the Anthropologie vibe, with very affordable prices to downtown areas.”
Nectar fulfills this mission well. The store, which has only women’s clothing targeting those under 35, offers a full range of clothing items at (get excited) Forever 21 prices. We’re talking $5 for a shirt here. Who knows how well these clothes will hold up in the long run, but if you need a new top to wear to Pub, you’ve found your spot.
My favorites pieces, after browsing around the store last weekend, were an oversized blouse featuring a cute pocket and shredded shoulders and a black pullover sweater subtly bedazzled with sequins.
The clothing at Nectar is often simple and classic with a careful attention to detail, making it comparable in apperance to an item from one of the higher-end boutiques in Claremont. The owners pick out the clothing from trade shows in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and the pieces are changed out weekly, sometimes even daily. “The product moves fast, just like the fashion world,” Tricia said. “We get new shipments almost every day.”
“Everyone says they’re so happy we’re here, that our prices are so low,” said Denise Kelly, the store manager. “Business has been really good so far since there’s a lot of foot traffic here.”
Tricia emphasized that having a store such as Nectar in Claremont will only enhance business for the other designer boutiques that are already in the Village. She remembers that when she and her husband first opened Nectar Clothing in Redlands, only a couple storefronts down from denM, they were worried that they could be competing with themselves for business. “We soon noticed that, not only did we not take business away from denM, we enhanced the sales just by driving more shopping traffic to the area.”
The Kellys have been hoping to reach out to 5C students; don’t be surprised to see coupons or advertisements targeted at students sometime soon.
“I hope the students at the Claremont Colleges will come in and see what we have to offer. We want to be a big part of the Claremont community,” Tricia said.
Being an essentially broke college student myself, I can’t help but encourage other students to take Tricia up on that invitation and go see how fabulous Nectar Clothing is for themselves. Nectar is located next to Aromatique, at 319 W. 1st Street.