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Doncaster to open Piatt Place boutique
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A high-end women's clothing company that traditionally has generated most of its business through in-home trunk sales will open a small boutique Downtown.
Doncaster Clothing, an upscale line that emphasizes personalized service, will occupy about 1,000 square feet of space in the lobby of Piatt Place on Fifth Avenue.
The boutique, which is expected to open by mid-May, is a new concept for the clothing company, which built its business in living rooms through trunk sales hosted by "wardrobe consultants."
In fact, the Piatt Place boutique will be one of only a "handful in the United States," said Teresa Cavoti, district sales director for Western Pennsylvania for Doncaster.
There's another in New York City's Central Park and one that just opened in Philadelphia, she said. Doncaster also has a boutique at Southpointe, but it's different in that it's on the second floor of an office building, not part of the street mix, Ms. Cavoti said.
Downtown, the boutique will be available for private appointments, but it also will be open to walk-up customers from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Doncaster on Fifth at Piatt Place, as it will be called, is hoping to cash in on the growing concentration of lawyers, bankers and business people in the heart of the Downtown commercial district.
The Reed Smith law firm, PNC Financial Services and the luxury Fairmont Pittsburgh hotel now occupy the new Three PNC Plaza office tower on Fifth Avenue. The K&L Gates law firm just moved into its new headquarters on Sixth Avenue near Piatt Place.
"This is a way to reach the corporate women of Downtown ... and the social women who are getting a spa treatment or who are having lunch Downtown," Ms. Cavoti said.
She added the line was developing a strong following in the area among attorneys, businesswomen and "time-deprived" women who use the services of a wardrobe consultant to help them pick out clothes.
The boutique is the latest fashion addition to lower Fifth Avenue, Downtown. Clothing retailer Larrimor's moved into the lobby of the One PNC building at Fifth and Wood Street last month. Heinz Healey's men's shop and the Nettleton Shop of Pittsburgh men's shoe store relocated and opened in a renovated building at Fifth and Market Street last year.
Outside of Larrimor's and department stores Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's, Doncaster on Fifth will be one of the few stores Downtown that sells women's apparel.
Renee Piatt, wife of Lucas Piatt, the Millcraft Industries executive vice president who spearheaded the Piatt Place redevelopment, will be one of four "studio partners" in the boutique.
First Published April 2, 2010 12:00 am
