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A new designer resale
shop in Troy offers big
names at smaller prices.

DAYNA PINK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Left:
Amy Cohen likes Chanel; Liz Purther likes Vera
Wang.

Right:
Liz Purther admires Amy Cohen's taste in clothes.

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he term "resale shop" generally con-
jures images of musty and semi-
undesirable merchandise crammed
into a dark space.
At the other extreme, designer show-
rooms, with their nattily dressed man-
nequins and haughty saleswomen,
permit not much more than browsing
for most women.
So where do fashion-conscious women on a
budget go?
Amy Cohen and Liz Belkin Purther are
offering an alternative. Their designer resale
boutique, featuring "gently worn" and even
unworn designer clothing, opened as Designer
Replay last week in the City Center Building at
888 W. Big Beaver Road in Troy.
Along with Valerie Taylor in Birmingham,
Designer Replay is the only resale store in the
area that stocks designer wear exclusively.
Ms. Cohen, 33, and Ms. Purther, 28, are no
strangers to fashion. Ms. Purther's mother is
Hattie Whitehead of the defunct Hattie's, which
brought metro Detroit its finest taste of couture
shopping and paved the way for high-priced re-
tailers to enter the market. So, watching her
daughter find a niche in the same community
wasn't much of a surprise.
"I'm very proud of her vision," Ms. Whitehead
boasted. "Liz and Amy are really finding a way
to meet the changing needs of women in the '90s.
These days, less than 1 percent of women are

buying couture pieces, and they have
found a way to bring these pieces to many
women who wouldn't otherwise have
them."
Ms. Whitehead is now fashion director
of the Esplanade Mall in Palm Beach, Fla.
The haute couture pieces that can be
found at Designer Replay aren't cheap,
but in comparison to a full-price $3,000
Chanel suit, $475 is a deal. Other items
on the racks bear names like Giorgio
Armani, Calvin Klein, DKNY and Prada.
A Barry Kieselstein cord belt that sold
new for $4,000 can be had here for $400.
The clothing is clean, pressed and in beau-
tiful condition — a departure from the
resale shops of horror.
"We know that there are a lot of women
who don't really see themselves as resale
shoppers," Ms. Purther acknowledged.
"But they still want couture clothes at
great prices, so we found a way that they
can have that and still be in a private,
in City Center's lobby. Not only is the merchan-
upscale atmosphere."
And the privacy factor is what brought them dise smart, but the ambience is too. Ms. Cohen's
to the City Center Building rather than Somer background is in interior design, so the look of
set North or trendy Royal Oak. They are hoping Designer Replay was paramount. She even
people will go the extra mile, knowing they won't wanted to change the color of the "awful red" fire
extinguisher, but the inspector met her request
find themselves in the middle of a mall.
Designer Replay is not open Mondays, but with a vehement "no."
Starting up any small business can be risky
offers special appointments that day for clients
who like to browse alone.
The store itself covers about 1,200 square feet PLAY page 51

